A Suite Christmas Story
by Peace Sign Freak
Summary: I know that I'm on another project but I really wanted to do a Christmas themed Suite Life story. I hope you guys enjoy it. Happy Holidays To Everyone.
1. Preparations

It was Friday December 23rd, 2011. It was just two days before Christmas Day. Snow gently fell on the Tipton Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The Tipton employees were busy decorating the lobby. Esteban was walking around the lobby to make sure that everyone was decorating the lobby accordingly. He nodded with satisfaction at the employees who were putting up the decorations correctly, which was every single employee.

Esteban was proud of himself to do such a fine job of taking charge after Mr. Moseby had left the Tipton to be the manager of the S.S. Tipton. Esteban had heard from other employees that Mr. Moseby had done his job and was no longer working for Mr. Tipton anymore and that he was happily engaged to a nice woman named Emma Tutweiller. He wished that Mr. Moseby would come to visit the Tipton for Christmas with Miss Tutweiller. He also wished to see Maddie come visit the Tipton as well.

Esteban did not have to be too much of a downer since he knew that Zack and Cody would be back for Christmas with their friends from the S. S. Tipton. Cody had told him that Woody, Addison and Bailey all would be coming to visit with the financial aid of Miss London Tipton. Esteban was just so excited to see all his friends again and was hopeful that he could enjoy his Christmas holiday with his good friends and with his lovely Francesca. His mama couldn't come for the holiday but was fine back at their home village playing her guitar to the village children and youth.

It took the employees a good two hours to have successfully put up every Christmas decoration. Esteban was very impressed on how the lobby looked. It was beautiful with tinsel glittering on the railing with ornaments shining and paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. Silver glitter was lightly sprinkled on the white paper snowflakes. The ornaments were gold, silver, green, red and white. All of them possessed intercut and dazzling details and patterns such as winter themed motifs and symbols. Everything simply glistened in the dimming sunlight as the sun went down on a short winter's day. It was getting dark and snow continued to fall down ever so gently on the ground.

As the snow fell, a crashing sound could be heard that was followed by a thud and a moan. Esteban sighed as he knew exactly who must have fallen at such a time. Lo and behold to Esteban, Arwin stumbled up to his feet and walked out to the lobby from his office and approached Esteban.

"Hi, Esteban. Are you ready for Christmas?"

"Yes, I am. What did you do to make that noise?"

"Oh, I was just being clumsy. I just slipped on a banana peel. No harm done."

"Are you sure that you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sure. I'm fine."

"Okay. Arwin, do you know if Mr. Moseby will be visiting the Tipton for Christmas?"

"Yeah. Mr. Moseby told me a few weeks ago that he was planning to visit the Tipton for Christmas with his fiancée, Miss Tutweiller."

"Have you met her?"

"No. But I did see her at the graduation ceremony."

"Oh. When the two come in?"

"I think that they were planning to check in the hotel today."

"What time did Mr. Moseby say when they would check in?"

"By five"

"It's almost five."

"Well they should be coming through those doors right about now. Why don't we go over there to be ready to greet them?"

"You're right, Arwin. We will greet Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller."

Arwin and Esteban walked over to the ramp and walked up to the front doors. They stood off to the side in anticipation as they waited for the arrival of Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller. Luckily for them, it didn't take long for them to wait as they heard a familiar voice through the glass doors just a minute after they stood at the side. Once the two awaited figures entered the Tipton, Esteban and Arwin gave Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller wide smiles. They greeted the two and helped get them a room and have their luggage sent up with the new bell hop boy. When Miss Tutweiller had the chance, she looked around the lobby was in awe that Mr. Moseby used to work as manager for such a beautiful hotel. Esteban smiled at the happy couple.

"Hello, Mr. Moseby."

"Hello, Esteban. It's nice to see you again. How are you?"

"I am fine. It's so good to see you Mr. Moseby."

"Well, thank you, Esteban, I would like to introduce you to Emma. She was the main teacher and the principle of Seven Seas High. Although Zack and Cody and their friends knew her as Miss Tutweiller."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tutweiller."

"It's nice to meet you too, Esteban. I've heard about you from Marion."

"Oh, how delightful. Mr. Moseby, you like me enough to talk about me. Oh what a wonderful day. Come you two, I will have a bell hop take your luggage and bring you to you room."

"That it is very kind of you, Esteban."

"Thank you, Miss Tutweiller."

Esteban has a bell hop take Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller's luggage and show them their room. Consequently, their room was directly above the Martin family's suite. Luckily for both Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller they could unpack their luggage peacefully since none of the members of the Martin family was occupying their family suite so that meant that there no noise emitting from the room below their room. Once Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller were done unpacking, they sat down on the couch. Miss Tutweiller looked over to Mr. Moseby's direction.

"Marion?"

"Yes, Emma?"

"Doesn't it feel weird for you to be checking-in as a guest at the Tipton Hotel instead of being its manager?"

"You know, Emma, the more that I think about the more I realize that it may be weird at first but then I think how nice it will be to be a guest for a change."

"I guess you're right. I mean, only you know how to feel to a guest for the Tipton instead of being the manager."

"You're right, Emma. I do know what I feel. But I just want to enjoy my visit her at the Tipton with you."

"Oh, Marion."

"Emma."

Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller leaned in and gave each other a gentle kiss on the lips. The kiss was short and sweet but just enough for the two adults to express what they were feeling at the moment. It didn't last very long, maybe just thirty seconds. They pulled away from each other and stared one another's eyes. They were content in each other's presence as they easily relaxed back into the soft cushions of the couch and cuddled close to each other.


	2. Season Greetings

An hour and thirty minutes had passed by in the hotel's lobby were Mr. Moseby was reading the newspaper on a chair while Miss Tutweiller chatted with Carey Martin on the lobby's couch. As the adults enjoyed their time of quiet bliss, Zack and Cody came in the hotel covered in snow. Zack smiled at himself as he spotted three un-expecting adults who were going to be thoroughly disturbed by him. Zack slid down the railing on his butt, quietly put his bag down and tiptoed behind the group of adults. Cody caught on to Zack's scheming but was too late to stop his brother when he heard Zack's voice break the barrier of peacefulness.

"Hey, guys!"

Carey, Miss Tutweiller and Mr. Moseby all jolted out of surprise from the sudden impact of Zack's strong and loud voice. Cody face-palmed himself and shook his head in disbelief and disappointment in his brother's abrupt outburst.

"Hey, Zack. Hi, Cody. I see you two are back from college for Christmas."

"Hi, mom."

"It's nice to see you, Cody."

"Thanks, mom. I'm glad to be back."

"Yeah, I'm glad to back, too, mom."

"Well, happy to hear that, Zack. But how come it took you two so long to return? I thought you boys would have returned Monday? What happened?"

"I had to finish my finals and a basketball game from Monday to Thursday."

"I was working on a highly sophisticated science project with some of my new science buddies from a club that I joined at Yale and finishing up my finals as well."

"Oh, well that makes sense. Cody, do you know what Bailey is doing?"

"She was going to spend Christmas with her family but then when I called her that Woody, Addison, London and Maddie would be back for Christmas, she was glad to see all of us that is if she was invited. She asked her parents and they were okay with her visiting us for Christmas."

"Yeah. That means that you and Zack can have your friends over for Christmas. The more the merrier I would say. You and Zack can be with your friends while us adults talk with each other."

"You mean you're going to talk with Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller while you let us do what we want?'

"Cody, you can do anything you want but you got to make sure that your brother doesn't cause trouble."

"Okay, mom."

"Oh, come on mom. You really think that I need Cody to look after me? I've matured. I'm not going to make any trouble."

"I don't believe you, Zack. If I did then I wouldn't have to ask Cody to watch out for you. Come on, we're going to get you two unpacked."

Carey stands up from the couch and walks up to Zack and Cody. She quickly turns back to Miss Tutweiller.

"I'm sorry, Miss Tutweiller but Zack and Cody need me. Could we talk later?"

"Of course. Besides, I need to talk to Marion about a few things."

Carey smiles at Miss Tutweiller and she smiled back. Carey then turns back around to Zack and Cody and leads them to the elevator and brings back inside their family suite. Zack and Cody go back inside their old room and start to unpack their clothing. Once Zack and Cody are done unpacking, they come out of their room and Carey walks up to them.

"So when are your friends coming for Christmas?"

"Woody and Addison are coming tonight at eight."

"Maddie will come to visit for Christmas tonight at seven and Bailey will be here tomorrow at eleven in the morning."

"That's great."

"You know, mom, it's almost seven and I think all three of us would like to be there when Maddie comes."

"You're right, Cody. You two should go down to the lobby to meet Maddie. I have to go a rehearsal."

"We can go down with you, mom."

Carey, Cody and Zack Martin all leave the suite and go down in the elevator to the lobby. Carey went to her rehearsal while Zack and Cody waited for Maddie to arrive for her visit. Ten minutes passed by and Maddie arrive on the dot. She had a big smile when she saw her good friends, Zack and Cody. She impressed on how tall they got and how handsome they looked. She walked down the stairs and had set down her bag before hugging Zack and Cody. She hugged Cody and then hugged Zack. She stepped back from her hug with Zack. She looked at her younger friends and could tell that they have matured.

"It's so nice to see you guys, again."

"It's nice to see you again, Maddie."

"Thanks, Cody."

"How long will you be here?"

"I'll be here until December 27th, Zack. I wish I could stay until New Year's but I can't, I have to return to the food bank to finish off my volunteer hours before the New Year comes."

"Okay. Well, at least you're going to be here for Christmas."

"That's the spirit, Zack. We'll be with family and friends this Christmas."

"Okay, okay, Cody. You don't have to all mushy on me about Christmas."

"So how have you two been?"

"We've been fine. What about you?"

"I'm good. I'm happy with my life."

"That's good. I hope-"

Cody was cut off by his phone ringing. He wondered who was calling.

"I'm sorry, Maddie."

"It's okay, Cody. Go ahead and respond. Maybe it's an important call."

"Okay."

Cody answers his ringing phone.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hey, Cody."

"Hey, Woody. What's up?"

"I'm sorry to tell you this dude, but Addison and I can't come. There's a storm coming in and where we're located, we're going to be blocked by the snow. I'm sorry that we won't be able to make it for Christmas."

"Oh, okay. I understand. It's okay. You and Addison stay safe and have a Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Cody."

Woody hung up the phone on his line and Cody hung up on his line. He looked a little sad as some of his friends wouldn't be able to come to the Tipton for Christmas. Maddie and Zack both gave Cody a concerned look. He looked up at his friend and bother.

"Woody and Addison won't be able to come for Christmas because of the upcoming snow storm."

"Well, what about Bailey? Where would she be coming from? Is she still at Yale or at home?"

"Bailey first told me that she would be leaving Yale early to go back home but then she said that she had to stay behind for one more final and that she could help me with my project and help me study for my finals but I haven't seen she since Wednesday."

"Maybe you should call her and find out where she is."

"But what if-"

Maddie cut off Cody by pressing her fingers against his lips.

"Call her now. I'm sure it will be fine."

"Okay."

Cody called Bailey and waited for her to pick up. When she picked up, she was very chipper.

"Hi, Cody!" How are you doing sweetie?"

"Hi, Bailey. I'm fine. I want to know something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm back at Yale. I'm sorry that I didn't let you know earlier but I had to run some errands."

"Will you be able to come over for Christmas because I heard that there's going to be a snow storm coming soon. Do you want me to pick you up?"

"No. That's okay, Cody. I'll come over tomorrow. I'll just take the train."

"Okay. Just stay safe and call me when you need anything."

"Okay, Cody, I will. I'll see you tomorrow, sweetie."

"Bye, Bailey. See you tomorrow."

Bailey blew a kiss into the phone and then hung up on her line. Cody heard Bailey blow a kiss through the phone and decided to catch the kiss and put it on his heart. He then hung up on his line. He had a small smile etched on his face.

"Well, good news. Bailey will be able to come for Christmas."

"That's great news."

"Oh, joy, you and Bailey are going to be all mushy to each other. Do me a favor and don't gag me with your lovey dovey attitude."

"Sure thing, Zack."

"Well, anyways, I guess we can get something to eat."

"You guys go eat. I have to get a room."

"Okay, see you around Maddie."

"Bye, Cody. Bye, Zack."

"Bye, Maddie."

"Come on, Cody, let's go back our suite and get something to eat."

"You mean get something to eat as in I cook something."

"Exactly."

"Ugh."

"Come on Code Red."

Cody and Zack go up back to their family suite. Zack plopped himself in the TV while Cody got out a cook book to pick a meal to cook. Once he selected a recipe, Cody began to get things ready for his cooking. Time passed by and Cody had finished making a classic pasta dish of spaghetti and meatballs. Cody had set the table before his mom came back from her rehearsal. Carey helped Cody with the finishing touches of the meal and then told Zack to come over for their dinner. The three ate their dinner with content and once everyone was full, Carey took the dishes away and cleaned them. The rest of the evening slithered on and before they knew it; Cody, Carey and Zack fell asleep. The Martin family slumbered peacefully with the rest of the hotel guest such as Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller. All was calm and light.


	3. Twas the Day Before Christmas

The next morning was accompanied by pure white snow. The snow had never let up during the whole night. The Tipton Hotel's roof was completely in snow. The outside world was cold and unyielding but the inside world was warm and safe. By eight am, some of the hotel guests were waking up for Christmas Eve day. Among the hotel guests that woke up at eight, Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller woke up as well. The happy couple took turns taking showers and getting changed and ready for the day. Mr. Moseby thought he would like to spend the morning with Miss Tutweiller before he would have to leave to get her gift with other gifts for his close friends and people that he regarded to be special to him for the rest of the day. Mr. Moseby looked over at Miss Tutweiller as she was adjusting her red sweater.

"Hey, Emma?"

"Yes, Marion?"

"I was wondering if you would to have breakfast with me and then we could take a carriage ride on Tippy or maybe take a stroll through the park."

"Breakfast and a ride on Tippy sounds great."

"Alright. We better get going if don't want to wait in line for a ride on Tippy's carriage."

"Right with you, Marion."

Miss Tutweiller walked up to Mr. Moseby and her right arm through Mr. Moseby's left arm. They walked out their room and headed down on the elevator to the main lobby to go get their continental breakfast. Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller had their breakfast that consisted of yogurt, waffles and fruit and cups of coffee. Right after breakfast, the mature couple walked out of the hotel and approached Tippy's carriage. They got up and took a ride. The ride lasted for an hour but it surely satisfactory as it was nice and slow. When the carriage ride was over, Mr. Moseby helped Miss Tutweiller down from the carriage and then he had made an excuse that he had to leave but he would be back by six at night. Miss Tutweiller agreed to let Mr. Moseby go as she also had to go shopping herself. Emma and Marion both agreed that they had errands to run and that they would meet each other at the hotel by six. The betrothed couple kisses each other on the lips as goodbye and then they went their separate ways.

By the time that Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller's carriage ride was over, Cody was waking up in his bed. He got up with a spring in his step and got ready for the day by collecting his clothes that he was planning to wear for the day and gathered his clothes to bring with him into the bathroom. He knew that in two hours that he would see his Bailey.

Cody took a hot ten minute shower and then got dressed. He adorned a red buttoned up shirt with original color skin tight jeans, green vans and a green sweater. Once he was completely dressed, Cody then proceeded to dry his hair, comb his hair neat, and brush his teeth. The last three tasks in the bathroom caused Cody to take twenty minutes. By the time that Cody came out of the bathroom, ready to tackle the day, he had calculated that between all the simple tasks of his morning routine before he started to make breakfast, Cody figured out that he took a total of forty minutes to get ready. He quietly walked around the living room couch to prevent himself from disturbing his mother. He got out some food to cook for breakfast. The intelligent Martin twin decided upon making pancakes for breakfast. As Cody cooked, the sweet smell of pancakes floated smoothly up into the air and gently hovered over to the couch and found its way to Carey Martin's nose. Carey woke up from the wonderful smell of the pancakes that Cody was cooking. Nothing woke a person better up than the smell of delicious food. Carey got up from the couch that she used as her bed and shuffled over to the kitchenette. She gave her youngest son a tired smile and ruffled his hair a little bit. Cody wanted to fix his hair but knew that he couldn't since he was in the middle of taking care of the pancakes and he couldn't afford to leave the pancakes in the pan while he went back to wash his hands if he fixed his hair. A good cook knows that when handling food that you must not touch your face or hair while cooking food.

"Good morning, Cody."

"Good morning, mom."

"I see you're making pancakes. Do you want me to set the table and get orange juice?"

"Sure, mom. Thanks."

Carey took out some clean dishes and silverware. She walked over to the table and then set the table. Once the table was set, Carey shuffled back to the kitchenette to get out the orange juice. Cody was almost done making the pancakes and brought the pan over and served two pancakes on each one of the three plates and then brought the pan back to kitchenette where he turned off the burner and got out three glasses for the orange juice. He then got syrup and placed it on the table along with the three glasses. Carey and Cody sat down at the table and poured themselves a glass of orange juice. Before Cody dug into the food, he looked over to his mom.

"Mom, should one of us wake up Zack?"

"No. I'm sure he'll wake up in time to have a warm breakfast by the smell of the syrup and pancakes."

"Okay, if you say so, mom."

Cody and Carey began to dig in into the delicious breakfast. Just as Cody and Carey had started eating the pancakes, Zack was waking up from the sweet smell of the maple syrup. He stumbled out of bed and shuffled out of his and Cody's bed room and moved all the way across the floor to the table to join his brother and mother for breakfast. Zack slumped into a vacant chair and began to eat the pancakes. While Carey savored her breakfast while Zack shoveled his down his throat, Cody was just about done with his share of food and brought his dishes over to the sink to wash off. Once his dishes were clean, coy checked his watch and saw on his watch that he had ten minutes left before he would meet Bailey. Cody walked back inside the bathroom to fix his hair and dashed out the suite with a quick goodbye to his brother and mother. Cody quickly walked down the hall and went down the elevator to the lobby. When he got down to the lobby, he saw Bailey walk through the rotating doors. She took in her surroundings and looked around for Cody. The happy couple quickly made eye contact with each other and widely smiled at one another. Cody and Bailey walked towards each other and brought one another into a warm embrace. After the embrace, the two young adults lovingly looked into one another's eyes and simply smiled.

"I missed you so much, Bailey."

"I missed you, too, Cody."

"Come on, I'll help you get a room and then we can spend time together."

Cody helped Bailey get a room by doing a few favors for Esteban. Bailey was assigned to a room that was on the same floor as the Martin's family suite. Cody helped Bailey get situated in her hotel room before they decided to go spend time with each other. Once Bailey was settled into her room, Cody smiled at Bailey.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"I just want to walk around the hotel."

"That sounds perfect. We could try to find Maddie and maybe even Esteban and London as well."

"Maddie's here?"

"Yeah. She arrived last night."

"Maybe we should go back down to the lobby and try to find her."

"It's settled then. Let's go find Maddie, Bailey."

Bailey smiled at Cody and then automatically looped her right arm through his left arm. They happily strolled out of Bailey hotel room and went down to the lobby.


	4. Last Christmas

As Cody and Bailey were on their way to get Bailey settled in into her hotel room, Zack dragged his but back into his and Cody's room to get dressed for the day. He fashioned black vans, skin tight black jeans and a green shirt and a red zip-up sweatshirt. He scudded over to the bathroom and combed his hair and brushed his teeth. Once he was gone getting ready for the day, Zack walked over to the door and left the suite to go to the arcade downstairs. He went down the elevator and hobbled across the lobby all the way to the arcade. While on his way to the arcade, Zack yawned. Once he got to arcade, he saw that he suddenly didn't feel like playing any video games so he walked back out to the lobby. The moment that Zack arrived back to the lobby, he spotted Maddie walking around. He suddenly developed a smile on his face and strutted over to where she was standing.

"Hello, Maddie. How are you today?"

"Oh. Hi, Zack. I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm better now that I've seen you."

Maddie giggled at the flattering comment that her friend made. She knew that Zack had the biggest and longest crush on her when he was younger and that she finally kissed him but she knew in her heart that nothing would happen between her and him.

"Oh, Zack, you're so funny."

"But, I wasn't trying to be funny that time."

"Oh, never mind, Zack."

The moment Maddie spoke her last words to Zack, Cody and Bailey came out of the elevator, arm-in-arm, walking towards Zack and Maddie with smiles on their faces. They were obviously happy to see Maddie and even Zack.

"Hi, guys. How are you two?"

"Hi, Bailey. Zack and I were just talking."

"We're just fine. I was bored until I saw Maddie walking around the lobby."

"Why were you bored, Zack?"

"I don't know why, Cody. I guess I'm still regaining energy from taking those finals and playing that basketball game before break."

"Well, I really hope you regain your energy, bro."

"Thanks, Code Red. What are you and Bailey planning to do for the day?"

"Well, we were just coming down to talk to Maddie but I guess we have more to talk about since you're here."

"Nope. Sorry, Broseph. I don't walk to get stuck ending hearing about science and math. I suddenly have more energy and I think I'm going to shoot some hoops at the park. See you two nerds later. Bye Maddie."

Zack went up the elevator in a mad dash and left the three intelligent young adults to mingle with each other. Maddie had an expression on her face that half confusion and half hurt. Bailey and Cody looked at each other and snickered.

"Wow, Cody, you sure know how to repel your brother."

"I know. I wasn't planning to repel him until later but I guess it's better that he's gone now than later."

"What are you guys talking about?"

"When Cody and I were on our way down in the elevator, we thought that maybe we should buy time to get started on our Christmas shopping. We plan to share the expenses for some of the gifts while others, we will make."

"Oh. That makes sense. Which reminds me, I have to go out and go shopping as well."

"Do you want to come with us?"

"Um, no thank you, Cody. I think I should go shopping on my own."

"Okay, Maddie. I understand. Bailey and I will be out soon as well. We'll wait for you to go out first so we don't see where you go."

"Thanks, Cody. Bye guys."

"Bye Maddie."

Maddie turned around on her heels and left the hotel lobby. Cody and Bailey looked at each other and smiled.

"We sure have improved on saying things at the same time, Cody Kitten."

"We sure have, Bailey Bunny."

"When do you think we can leave after Maddie?"

"I would say about five minutes, just in case."

"Good plan, Cody."

Just as Cody and Bailey finished their short yet direct conversation, London came marching through the front doors into the lobby. She sauntered down the steps in her one-of-a-kind Arturo Vitali diamond studded high-heels. Cody and Bailey felt a shining reflection from the diamond studs blind them and were forced to turn their heads in London's direction. Once they could focus eyesight again, they rolled their eyes as they saw London with her shining high-heels on. They weren't surprised what she came in wearing. London was looking around the lobby in hopes that she would find someone that she knew. Just as soon as when London was looking around the lobby for someone familiar, Bailey began to wave her free hand over in London's direction, hoping that London would spot her waving hand, which she did. London happily recognized Bailey's flailing hand and walked right over to her and Cody.

"Hi, guys."

"Hi, London. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I just came back from shopping. I just finished my Christmas shopping."

"For what?"

"For presents that I'm going to give to you guys. Duh, Cody!"

"Oh."

"London, you really remember to get us gifts this year?"

"Well, yeah, farm girl. I mean I don't to end up alone and unwanted in the future. I mean I still remember my lesson from last year on the boat when you and Cody were 'just friends' after you two broke up."

"Um, right, London. Well Cody and I have to go shopping now. We'll see you later."

"Okay. See you and brain boy later."

"Bye, London."

Bailey felt so flustered from the memory from the previous Christmas that she unconsciously detached herself from Cody and walked ahead of him out of the hotel. Cody walked behind bailey, trying to catch up with her. London saw Bailey left with Cody awkwardly trailing behind her. London did wonder if she had hit a nerve in Bailey but knew that Bailey would be fine and that she needed to wrap her presents that she got for her close friends whom she considers to be like her family, a real family. London took the elevator and went all the way up to her penthouse to wrap the presents that she got for her friends.

While London went up to her penthouse, Cody was catching up to Bailey who out on the curb of the street, ready to cross the crosswalk. Cody caught Bailey before she could take another step away from him. He gently yet firmly pulled her back and twirled her around to face him. Her face was pointing down and her head faced a direction that wasn't the same direction as his face. Cody caught a glimpse of a pretty crimson color covering Bailey's cheeks and the bridge of her nose and knew that she must feel embarrassed and maybe even ashamed. Cody furrowed his eyebrows together. He held Bailey tight in his hands and used his right hand to make Bailey turn her head to face him. Once their heads were aligned, Bailey momentarily averted her eyes away from Cody's before finding some courage to look at him straight in the eye. Cody was confused and concern about his girlfriend's abrupt behavior.

"Bailey what's wrong?"

"Oh, Cody, I just feel so embarrassed. I guess London accidentally hit a nerve in me when she said 'just friends' when she was referring to last Christmas after we were broken up. The ship was in South America and you and I were doing a toy drive for the orphans. I was Santa and you were an elf with your compression pants on. I remember that by the end when London had that weird dream of hers that she gave all the orphans presents and we complimented each other how e played a part as well and then well we hugged."

"Yeah. How did that hit a nerve in you?"

"It's because I felt so happy in your arms again even if it was just that we were 'just friends'. I felt like I belonged in your arms and that I was thinking why it was taking us so long to realize that made a mistake of breaking up with each other. Last Christmas was a good moment for us after we broke up because things went downhill again until you came after me when the twister hit. It's just that I wished that didn't have to happen and…and-"

Bailey was silenced by Cody gently pressing two fingers on her lips.

"Shhh. It's alright, Bailey. I know that we both wished that weren't idiots and let go of each other and just listen to each other but we aren't perfect and we have flaws and shouldn't worry. No matter how much we wished it didn't happen, there's nothing we can do about it now. Last Christmas is in the past, this Christmas is now and it'll be different because we're together. We can make this Christmas great."

Cody released his fingers from Bailey's lips and held her hands down by their sides.

"You're right, Cody and I'm sorry that I walked far ahead of you."

"It's okay, Bailey. You felt a sting of the painful memory of last Christmas but now it's gone and I'm here."

Bailey titled her head up and kissed Cody on the cheek. She leaned back and smiled at him.

"I think we better get going if we want to get our shopping down and be back at the hotel at a reasonable time."

"I think we should go ahead and go shopping."

Cody beamed back at Bailey as he agreed with her proposal of getting their shopping down.

"Great! Now let's go."

Bailey spun on her heels to face the street again and looped her arms back into Cody left one. She then laced her fingers with his fingers so that she couldn't get away from him again and that he couldn't slip away from her until it was needed to do so. Cody led Bailey over to the crosswalk and hit a button on a pole to make sure that they would receive an electric walking pedestrian sign. Once the sign glowed and the cars stopped at the stop light, Cody and Bailey walked across the street with other pedestrians and were on their way to the mall to begin their Christmas shopping.


	5. Is Cody a Helga G Pataki?

Hours had passed by and it five. Many people were returning to their homes, apartments and for some back to their hotels from last minute Christmas shopping. Maddie arrived back the Tipton by five thirty and went up to her hotel room to wrap some presents that she got for her friends at the hotel. Cody and Bailey came back to the Tipton ten minutes after Maddie. When they got back inside the lobby, a nice elder woman commented on how cute they looked together with their outfits that looked very similar to each other. Cody and bailey had thanked the elder woman and then she left them with a smile on her face. The elderly woman was correct on how Cody and Bailey looked together. Both Cody and Bailey had red shirts on and green sweaters but Bailey had black vans on instead of green ones like Cody. The young couple had agreed that they would have go separate ways from each other for the necessary task of wrapping one another's gifts. Although, before they left, Cody fished out a Santa hat from his shopping bag and nicely placed it on top of Bailey's head. He patted the hat on her head to make sure it was on, kissed her forehead and then pressed the up button for the elevators. Since they stayed in rooms on the same floor, Cody wanted to give enough privacy for the both of them by letting Bailey go up first and then he go after her. Cody backed away from Bailey as an elevator opened up and Bailey walked in with a slightly sad look on her face that she couldn't go up the elevator with her Cody. When she got inside the elevator, the doors closed and a noise could be heard that indicated that it was moving up. After a while Cody was able to go up to 23rd floor and go inside his family's suite.

When Bailey was done wrapping and making a few of the gift, she headed over to the Martin family suite. She knocked on the door and Zack opened it. He had let her in and she asked if Cody was around. Zack lamely replied that Cody wasn't around. Bailey was about to leave the suite to go find Cody but Zack asked her stay so that they could bond a little more as friends. Zack convinced Bailey to join him on the couch and watch some TV. Bailey felt very weird and uncomfortable being alone in the same room as her boyfriend's twin brother, Zack. Just as things were getting very awkward for Bailey, a knock could be heard from the door. Bailey stood up and opened the door, only to greet Maddie. Zack came over as soon as he could when he saw Maddie's face.

"Hi, Maddie. What are you doing here?"

"I thought that maybe I could just hang out with Zack and Cody before Christmas Eve dinner. What are doing here, Bailey?"

"I was wondering if Cody was here. I was going to leave but Zack wanted me to stay so he could some company. He's bored and wanted to become better friends with me."

"Sounds harmless enough. Could I hang out with you two?"

"Sure, Maddie."

"Thanks, Bailey."

Maddie, Bailey and Zack walk back to the couch. Zack plops himself in the middle while Bailey and Maddie sit on either side of him. Zack turns on TV and does some channel surfing. He stops on the Nick channel and ends up a programming block of The 90's Is All That. A re-run of Hey Arnold! pops on the time slot. Usually, The 90's Is All That would have occurred later in the day but they were having a special that day. After thirty minutes of four Hey Arnold! Episodes, Maddie explains that she has some loose ends to tie up in her schedule and bids Bailey and Zack and goodbye. Bailey was about to leave when Zack stopped her because he just remember something about Cody that Bailey probably didn't know about but maybe should know about. He was reminded by one of the Hey Arnold episodes that they watched.

"Wait, Bailey."

"What is it now, Zack?"

"I think you might want to see something in my and Cody's bedroom. There's something in there that might help you have a better understanding of how Cody felt while you two were…separated."

"Zack, I don't think that it necessary. Besides, I'd rather not dwell on the past and just try to find Cody now."

"Okay. You don't need to dwell on the past. You just need to let me show you this one thing of Cody's."

"Zack, I don't think that I should."

"What's the harm? I mean you are his girlfriend."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean that it's right for me to go through some of his stuff that he doesn't want me to see without him knowing."

"So? Couples eventually do this type of stuff each other anyway."

"Fine. But only so that you stop bugging me about it."

"Yes, finally! Come on, Bailey."

Zack walks over to the door that leads to his and Cody's room and opens it. He beckons Bailey over, which she does come over but feels like dragging her feet. Zack guides Bailey to foot of Cody's bed and points to a chest.

"What about the chest?"

"It's what's inside that matters."

"What's inside?"

"A shrine of you."

"Zack, you're lying."

"No, I'm not. I'll prove it to you."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Just you wait and watch."

Zack bends down and attempts to unlock the lock by using his and Cody's mom's birthday but it doesn't work. Bailey sees that Zack has failed and smirks at Zack. He makes a frustrated noise and shakes his fist in the air.

"Darn it, Cody. You changed the combination."

Zack tries to think and then an idea comes into his head. He looks over at Bailey.

"Bailey, what's your birthday?"

"Why are asking about my birthday?"

"Just give me the date of your birthday."

"No,"

"Ugh! Fine, I'll think of another combination."

"Zack just give up."

"No. I'm going to try again."

Zack then thinks about the day that Cody found out that Bailey was a girl, which was their first day on the S.S. Tipton. Zack grinned at himself and then used the date as a combination. The date that he used as a combination had worked. Zack smirked at Bailey as if he was silently gloating at her as she rolled her eyes and then he opened Cody's chest. Bailey hesitantly walked behind Zack and lurched over his shoulder to see, in fact, a miniature shine of her. She was in awe as she saw some items that he probably was planning to give to her for their one year anniversary but never got the chance to, a bunch of cut out photos of her face framed in paper hearts and a green leather book. Bailey didn't know whether to be freaked out or to feel appreciated by the shrine. Bailey was curious about the green book and so she pointed at it.

"Zack, what's that green book?"

"That it the six month plan that Cody made to win your heart the first year we were on the boat. By the end of the six months, you apparently fell for him too and became his girlfriend."

"Oh! That's why he shouted 'Yes! My six month plan worked!' when he excused himself for a moment I kissed him."

"That sound like something Cody would say. Anyways, I tore out some pages because I was trying woo Maya. Cody got mad because he said that the six month plan was bounded by genuine Italian leather and 'love'. Whatever he meant by that."

"And this shrine is important because he had this when he and I were broken up?"

"Duh."

Bailey felt a wave of grief and relief wash over her whole being. She didn't of she should feel terrible or absolutely giddy that her Cody truly, deeply does love her. But then again she wondered if he still loved her if he found out that she looked through his shrine of her. She was worried now. She took one last lingering look of the shrine, but especially the six month plan and the straightened out her body so that she was standing up straight. Bailey then backed away from behind Zack.

"Zack, I think I've seen enough."

"Okay."

Zack closes the chest up and puts the lock back on.

"I don't feel so good. I think I'm going back to my room."

"Do you feel sick?"

"No, Zack. I don't feel good in an emotional sense."

"Well, you're on your own then. I'm not good about helping people with their emotions."

"Goodbye, Zack."

"See ya later, Bailey."

Bailey walked out of Cody and Zack's room and then left the suite all together and went back to her hotel room. When Bailey got back to her hotel room, she sat down on the couch and thought about Cody's shrine of her. What shocked her the most was that he had made that shrine while they were broken up and when they would occasionally fight with each other. She felt absolutely terrible. Bailey was considering of convincing Cody to just break up with her and not take her back but then she remembered what Cody had said that the past was the past and what mattered was now. Bailey wiped some of stray tears that were at the brim of her eyelids and calmed herself down. Bailey collected herself and breathed in and out in a steady rhythm. Bailey stood up from the couch, determined to calmly confront Cody about the shrine at an appropriate time. Bailey had set herself out to go search for Cody one last time. Hopefully she would find him before the Christmas Eve dinner. With a goal set in her mind, Bailey left her hotel room to go find Cody.


	6. Sharing Little Secrets

Bailey hurried down to the elevator to go down to the lobby with hope that she would find Cody. When she arrived at the lobby, she spotted Maddie walking around. She walked up to her older friend to see if she could help her find Cody.

"Hi, Maddie."

"Hi, Bailey. What's up?"

"I'm looking for Cody. Is there any chance that you saw him walk by anywhere?"

"Yeah. The last I saw him, he was in the ballroom setting up decorations for the hotel's Christmas Eve Dinner."

"Thank you, Maddie."

"No problem. If you don't see him in the ballroom then he might be in the kitchen cooking with Chef Paulo. But I would check the ballroom before heading over to the kitchen."

"Okay. Thank you again."

"You're welcome. Good luck finding Cody."

Bailey gave Maddie a firm nod to the head and a small smile before leaving. Maddie smiled at Bailey as she was leaving. Maddie watched Bailey head off in the direction of the ballroom and knew that she really did love Cody. Maddie saw Bailey's figure disappear into the next room and then turned her head back to the direction that she was heading towards.

Back with Bailey, she searched around the ballroom and didn't notice Cody anywhere. She was about to leave the ballroom to go to the hotel's kitchen but then she heard a noise. It sounded like a ladder fell down and made a clattering sound. The thump of the ladder was shortly followed by a bump and a moan. Bailey swiveled on her heels quickly as she knew who was the owner of the moan, which was Cody. Bailey quickly walked over to her Cody and helped him up from the ground. When Cody stood up from the ground, he rubbed his head. He then lifted his head to come face to face with Bailey. Cody simply smiled at Bailey.

"Hi, Bailey. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. How come you're here?"

"When I was done wrapping presents, Esteban came in the family suite to ask me for my assistance to help put up decorations here in the ballroom."

"You could have contacted me where you were."

"I'm sorry. It must have slipped my mind. I know that this is a busy time and that we all have priorities but I should have at least let you know where I was. I'm really sorry, Bailey."

"I understand, Cody. I just wish I knew so I wouldn't end up spending time with Zack."

"You spent time with Zack? For what reason?"

"When I was done wrapping presents, I went to your family suite to see if you were there. I was hoping that we could have spent some with each other. I was about to leave but Zack wanted to bond with me as friends."

"He didn't try any funny business with you, did he? Did you ask him if he knew where I went?"

"To answer your question: No, he try any funny business. For your second question: Yes, I did ask him if he knew where you were."

"Ah! Zack! I told him that I was heading down to the ballroom to decorate in case anybody came by looking for me. I guess he didn't pay attention."

"Well not much harm was done. Luckily Maddie dropped by and hung out with Zack and I. We watched TV. And with Zack it was nothing educational in the obvious sense but was okay to watch. He said there was a special showing of Hey Arnold! episodes."

"What do you mean by not much harm was done? What did Zack do?"

"This is what I wanted to come tell you about, Cody. I'm here to apologize for what I saw."

"What did you see?"

"I saw your shrine. Zack wanted to show me and I didn't want to see it because I'd figured that you wanted to show something personal to me then you would have shown me. Besides, I didn't want to go into your room with you knowing. Zack wouldn't stop talking about so I decided to just go with his stupid reasoning. I'm sorry Cody."

"So you went inside my and Zack's old room and then you saw my shrine of you when Zack opened it?"

"Yeah. I'm really sorry Cody. In my defense I didn't feel right being there in your room alone with Zack. I felt so uncomfortable. But when I saw the shrine I didn't know what to think or feel. But now I'm enlightened how you really felt about me when we were separated although I no idea how you feel about me right now. Do you hate me?"

"I'm a bit shocked and a little disappointed in you but I know that I can be angry at Zack. Although I was thinking of showing it to you but then I was too afraid to show you. Oh, well, the damage has been done."

"What do you mean, Cody? Does this mean that you don't want to see me ever again?"

"No, Bailey. I don't hate you and I don't want to not see you ever again. I want to see you as much as possible. What I meant was that you now know my little secret and the awkward feeling has passed."

"So you forgive me?"

"Of course I do. It would be understandable that sometimes a couple can be curious about little things they feel that they may not know about their partner. I'll admit that I would be curious to find something out about you during a time like when we were separated."

"Well, actually, I do have a little secret of mine that is similar to yours with the shrine when we were broken-up. I think it's fair to let you know. Besides, I don't think that I need to feel embarrassed about sharing it any longer."

"May I ask what it is?"

"Do you remember that blanket that you bought for me so I would feel more at home since I still felt a little homesick?"

"Of course. The blanket was red and had yellow lines in criss-cross pattern."

"Well, on some nights when we had a fight, I would cry myself asleep and try to think of the good times with you. I would find the blanket you got for me and cuddled with it. Afterwards, I would keep it close to my body when I slept. I wanted to have hope that we would eventually get back together."

"I guess we equally missed each other even if we gave each other a convincing show that we hated each other when in truth we still deeply loved and cared for one another."

"I know. I just wish that fight in Paris never happened."

"At least we realized that our love wasn't meant to be short term but to be long term. We learned the lesson that 'you don't know what you got until it's gone'."

"Isn't that truth."

"Don't worry, Bailey. We're wiser than before and we've become a stronger team. I'm going to make sure that I don't lose you."

"And I'll make sure that I don't lose you, too."

"Well, since I'm almost done putting up decorations, we can spend time with each before the Christmas Eve dinner."

"That's fine. How many decorations do you need to put up?"

" I just need to put up three more ornaments and hang them on the ceiling."

"'Kay."

Cody lifts the ladder back up in a standing position and climbs up the ladder.

"Bailey could you please hand me three ornaments?"

"Sure thing, Cody."

Bailey picks up three ornaments from the small flat opened box and picks out three ornaments. She then hands each one at a time for Cody to put up and hang from the ceiling. Once Cody was done with hanging the ornaments, he climbed down the ladder and had returned it to the supply closet. He walked back to Bailey and gave her a wide smile. She gave him a wide smile in return. The young couple linked arms together and the held each other's hands. They happily walked of the ballroom together.

I'm sorry for the late update. I've been busy recently. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this Christmas story before the New Year.


	7. Deck The Halls

When Cody and Bailey left the ballroom, they got caught in a sudden wave of Tipton employees trying to get everything done. Cody and Bailey stumbled backwards and fell on the ground. From their fall, Cody and Bailey got detached from each other's grips and fell backwards in opposite directions. When the two young adults got up, they saw that the speed and density of bustling employees subdued very quickly. Cody spotted Esteban rushing by but was able to catch him from the arm. Esteban stumbled backwards from the sudden yank of Cody's hand. He looked back his two younger friends.

"Esteban what's going on? I thought everything was covered? Why is everybody in a rush?"

"Well, you see Cody, when we thought all the necessary supplies, one of the employees checked our stock of decorations and food and realized that we need and informed me what we needed to replace. Once I told everyone of our little problem they all began to panic and went into a frenzy to restock necessary supplies for the dinner tonight."

"What can we do to help?"

"There's not much. But thank you for offering your and Cody's services, Bailey."

"Are you sure there isn't anything we can do?"

"I'm afraid so Cody. Wait! Unless you, Cody, go help Chef Paulo cook while Bailey, you can help Carey with setting up the tables in the ballroom."

"We could do that."

"Alright. Then it's settled. You two will help after all. Now I wonder if we should worry about Zack. We love him in our own ways but we also know he can mean big trouble."

"I don't know who could keep him out of trouble."

Maddie came walking by the moment Cody had a distressed question that needed to be answered. She casually walked up to her group of friends.

"I'll keep Zack busy. I can just hang out with him."

Esteban, Cody and Bailey all looked towards Maddie and gave her expressions that were a mix of surprise, confusion and appreciation.

"You would do that for us, Maddie?"

"Of course I would, Esteban."

"Oh, thank you, Maddie. Bless your soul. Well, I must be off. See you guys later."

"Bye, Esteban."

"See you later, Esteban."

Cody and Bailey turned back to Maddie.

"Thank you, Maddie."

"Ah, no problem you guys. I hate to say this but I think that you two go to your separate ways now."

"Sure thing Maddie."

"Bye, Bailey. Bye, Maddie."

Cody kissed Bailey on the cheek, waved goodbye to Maddie and jotted off to the kitchen.

"Well, bye Maddie. I'm going to help Mrs. Martin with setting the table. Good luck with distracting Zack."

"Thanks. But don't worry, I will."

Bailey smiled at Maddie and went back over to the ballroom where the tables would be. She walked off to the ballroom. Maddie went over the elevators and pressed the up button. When one of the elevators opened she entered the open one and went straight up to the 23rd floor. Once she arrived on the 23rd floor, she went to the Martin family suite and knocked on the door. Zack opened the door and greeted her with a smile and a hello.

"Hey, Maddie. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to see you again. When I came by the first time, I had forgotten catch up with you on personal matters. May I come in?"

"Sure."

Maddie gladly walks into the suite. When she entered the suite, she walked over the couch and sat down. Zack automatically joined Maddie on the couch and they easily struck up a conversation. While Maddie was talking with Zack, Bailey had found Carey getting silverware out of a cupboard. Carey handed some silverware over to Bailey to help speed up the process of setting the tables. As the two ladies set the tables, Carey glanced over to where Bailey was circling a table.

"So, Bailey, how's your relationship going with Cody?"

"It's fine. I mean he's always the gentleman and I do what I can to show him equal treatment and love. Whenever I do something for him, he seems to up me one each time. I know our relationship isn't a competition but I just feel like I need to do for him. He's so good to me, it's a bit unbelievable."

"Well, you know Bailey there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure that if you have fault then so does Cody. You two are human and what's more is that your young and in love. It's natural to feel like you need to do more for your partner sometimes. What I meant to ask was that if you're happy were you're are with him?"

"Of course I'm happy with Cody. He's my perfect guy. He may not be a perfect human being but he's perfect for me. Our relationship is at a comfortable pace and nothing too major has happened that might have negatively affected our relationship ever since Paris."

"Well that's good. And I'm sorry that had to happen to you and Cody. Bailey, you and Cody are good people and you deserved a happy ending in the city of love on your one year anniversary."

"It's okay, Mrs. Martin. Cody and I figured that it was the right type of kick in the pants from life that we needed humanize our partners and realize that we would always love each other no matter what, that we were meant to be together….for the rest of our lives."

"How sweet for you to say that. I'm sure that when the time comes, you and Cody will get married and I'll be happy to have you as a daughter-in-law. You being part our family would be the best thing that will happen for us since Cody will be happy, Zack probably stay more in line with a sister-in-law and I would have a female family member that I would talking to. But there's no pressure. It all depends what you and Cody want to do."

Bailey blushed from the compliment that she received from Carey Martin.

"So I'm guessing that before Cody and I do get engaged that you already approve of us being together and that technically you gave me your blessing in advanced."

"That's correct. Bailey, you're a special girl and you're obviously very special and very important to Cody. I would be glad if you agreed to part of our family. I mean there are responsibilities to uphold and that would be dealing with a mother-in-law who can't cook and a brother-in-law who will cause trouble and create a disturbance in the universe."

Bailey giggled at the last part that Carey said about how Zack would be a troublemaker. Carey smiled as she saw Bailey's beautiful smile while she giggled. Carey was glad that Cody found someone like Bailey in his life to make him very happy.

All the while that Bailey and Carey had been talking to each other they had been setting the silverware as they went. They slowly rotated between their conversation and their duty of setting the tables. Once Bailey and Carey's conversation was over they went back to the cupboard to retrieve fine, white plates, red napkins and stainless steel napkin rings. The two intelligent women carefully placed the plates on the tables and rolled up the napkins to slip into the napkins rings. After all the napkins were slipped into the napkin rings, Carey and Bailey carefully placed the napkins on the white plates. When Carey and Bailey were done setting the tables, they looked at their handy work and then at each other and smiled.

"We did a pretty good job at setting the tables, Mrs. Martin."

"We sure did, Bailey. Come on, let's go up to the 23rd floor to get ready for the dinner. I'll help you get ready so that you look nice for the dinner and for Cody. This a bit embarrassing for you to hear bit I'm hoping you and Cody get stuck underneath the mistletoe."

Bailey blushed from Carey's suggestion that she and Cody would end up under the mistletoe together because that would mean that they would have to kiss.

"I don't know about being caught under the mistletoe but I would like to look nice for the dinner."

"And….."

"And for Cody."

"Jeez, Bailey. It's like I have to twist your arm for you to admit that you would like to nice for my son. Is there something wrong?"

"No. It's so weird admitting it to my boyfriend's mom."

"I'm sorry, Bailey. I didn't know I was making you feel uncomfortable."

"Oh, don't be, Mrs. Martin. It's not you, it's me. I just have this odd notion that I need to have your absolute approval."

"Don't worry Bailey. Cody loves you and that's what should matter to the most. Besides, you're a very likeable girl so there's no need to feel like you're going to screw up. Now come on, we need to get ready."

"Okay, if you insist."

"I insist."

Carey and Bailey walked together out of the ballroom to go up to the 23rd floor to get ready together. Bailey felt a little out of place walking with her Carey Marin bit then she quickly adjusted and became comfortable walking alongside with Carey. When Bailey and Carey arrived at the elevators, Carey pressed the up button right away. Luckily an elevator opened up quickly and two ladies could go up to the 23rd floor.


	8. Joy To All

When Carey and Bailey got inside the Martin family suite after had Bailey grabbed her outfit from her room for a short detour, they spotted Maddie knocked out on the couch while Zack was trying to wake her up. Carey had a confused expression etched on her face but then Bailey had quickly explained to her that Maddie had offered to distract Zack from causing trouble while everyone else finished getting things ready for the dinner. Once Bailey had explained why Maddie was on the couch and theorized that she probably got bored and tired of Zack talking that she fell asleep on the couch next to Zack.

Carey left Bailey at the door and walked over to the couch to wake Maddie up since Zack failed to do so himself. When Maddie woke up, she asked what was going on. When Carey had explained what was going to happen, she got up from the couch and promised that she would come back to help her and Bailey finish up getting ready. Carey agreed with Maddie's suggestion and advised Zack to get ready and that he should stay in his room until Carey told him that it was okay to come out. Zack unenthusiastically agreed and dragged his butt to his and Cody's room to put on some nicer clothes for the dinner.

When Zack was out of the picture, Maddie rushed out the suite to go back to her hotel room to get her outfit ready. While they waited for Maddie's return, Bailey and Carey got ready for the dinner. Time passed in a snap and Maddie returned to the suite at the right moment to help touching up the ladies' outfits. While the women were bonding as females, Zack was laying on his bed. He was staring at the ceiling absolutely bored out of his mind waiting for his mom to give him the okay to come out. He did wonder when Cody would come up to get ready for the dinner. By the time Bailey, Carey and Maddie were done getting ready for the dinner, Carey called Zack out to let him know that he come out from his and Cody's room. He came out with black dress pants, black dress shoes, a crisp green button up shirt and red necktie. Carey looked over at Zack and was glad that he looked decent.

"Zack, you look nice."

"Thanks, mom. You all look nice. By the way, when do you think Cody will come back up to get ready?"

"Oh, no! I don't know where Cody is."

"It's okay, Mrs. Martin. Cody's in the kitchen helping Chef Paulo preparing the food for the dinner tonight."

"How did you know that, Bailey?"

"It's because Esteban asked him to cook with Chef Paulo and that Maddie was to distract Zack while I helped you set tables."

"Oh."

"Well, when Cody come back up, mom?"

"I don't know."

"Should Maddie and I leave? We can meet you guys downstairs."

"Actually that's a good plan. Bailey, you and Maddie should leave now so that when Cody comes in, he'll be surprised to see you two when we come down before the dinner."

"Okay, Mrs. Martin."

"Let's go now, Bailey."

"Okay. We'll see you guys down in the lobby."

Bailey and Maddie left the suite and went down to lobby. They were lucky that when they came out of the elevator to the lobby, Cody was already in the other elevator coming up to the 23rd floor. When he entered the suite, he asked if either Zack or Carey had seen Bailey or Maddie around and they shook their heads 'no'. Since Cody didn't know what was up, he didn't pay much mind to his brother and mother's response and just simply went into his and Zack's room to get ready for the dinner like everyone else. Cody donned a pair of crisp black dress pants, sleek, black dress shoes, a new and crisp red button up shirt and a green necktie. Then he quickly gave himself a small spritz of cologne that Bailey had got for him. It was ironically called Forest Frenzy which was cologne that had a pine scent. She picked it because she thought that pine smelled good on him and she wanted to remember the time that Cody had made-up the name when he tried to get her attention in class with a pine scent for a car that had hung around his neck. As soon as Cody was ready, he walked out of his and Zack's room. Carey and Zack turned their heads towards Cody to see that he was ready to go to the lobby.

"Ready, Code Red?"

"Yeah, Zack."

"Okay, guys, let's go down to the lobby."

With the simple yet direct words of Carey Martin, the majority of the Marin family left their suite and went down to the lobby where their extended family was waiting for them. The moment Zack, Cody, and Carey exited the elevator, they came face-to-face with not only Maddie and Bailey, but also with Esteban and Arwin. Surprisingly, they also saw Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller waiting on the couch in the lobby's relaxation area. The Martin family was happy to see the people that were in front of their view, their extended family.

Maddie and Bailey smiled graciously at the Martin family. Carey smiled back at Bailey and Maddie and embraced them both in her slender arms. She hugged the two young women firmly and warmly for a good minute before she had to draw back from the hug. Carey looked straight at Maddie and Bailey and saw how beautiful they looked. She then looked back at her sons and noticed that had permanent smiles etched into their faces. Zack was smiling because he was happy to see Maddie while Cody was smiling because he was happy to see Bailey and that he thought she looked breathtaking. Carey looked between the four young adults and knew she had to make her exit so they could talk to one another.

"Well, I think I'm going to go say 'hi' to Arwin, Esteban, Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller."

"Alright, mom. We'll see you at dinner", Cody responded while he still gazed at Bailey.

Carey left her sons with Maddie and Bailey and went over to her adult friends. She was planning to say 'hi' to all of them anyway. Carey was anxious to properly meet Miss Tutweiller and find out how she got Mr. Moseby to relax. While Carey was walking down the steps to greet Arwin and Esteban, Zack walked up to Maddie and struck up a conversation with her and Cody had a crooked smile stuck on his face which caused Bailey to have a deep red color running across her cheeks. As Zack and Maddie continued to have a conversation, Cody slowly walked up to Bailey and nervously scratched the back of his neck. Bailey was wearing a simple red dress that went past her knees with white trim on the short sleeves and a white collar that just covered her collar bone. She also had a green choker and miniature holly as earrings. As a finishing touch, Bailey had her hair half up and half down. The hair that was up had been tied up in a green satin ribbon.

"You look gorgeous tonight, Bailey."

"Thank you, Cody. You look handsome yourself, this splendid evening."

Bailey leaned in to kiss Cody but the stopped herself. She sniffed the aroma that hovered over Cody and noticed that it was Forest Frenzy. She smiled and then leaned back away from Cody.

"You're wearing the cologne that I got you."

"I thought I might use it. You know I like being reminded of the good times."

"But in the end, I ended up giving you a lederhosen wedgie in the front."

"Yeah but at least I found out that I should have been myself."

"Yep. Now, I'm sorry that I did that to you. I was your friend and I should have thought of a better way to show you that I was disappointed in you. If only I knew that you were only to do that to get my attention since you liked me more than just a friend."

"It's okay, Bailey. You didn't know and I should have known better not look up your answers."

"We did learn from that experience. The funny thing is that I only realized that I liked you back the way you liked me when we hugged at the Mulch Festival. Then I finally put the pieces together for those rare days of odd behavior after our very first date."

"How did you figure that out? What gave you the motivation?"

"When you excused yourself to go shout out 'my six month plan worked!'"

Cody rubbed his neck in an embarrassed fashion and blushed.

"Oh. You heard that?"

"Yeah but that doesn't matter now. What matters is that we're here….together", Bailey used a little sultry flare on the last word.

Cody's body twitched a bit and he blushed from Bailey's added tone at the end of her recent statement. He noticed that everyone else was heading towards the ballroom for the dinner.

"Uh, I think we should get going so we can be sure that we'll be sitting next to each other."

" I agree, Cody."

Bailey smiled at Cody and looped her right arm into his left arm. She then gingerly placed her left hand on the inside indent of Cody's elbow. Cody and Bailey walked down the steps and continued on their way into the ballroom to join everyone else.

_I know that this story has taken longer to finish than anticipated but it will be done soon. I also want to say to anyone who celebrated the New Year that I hope you all will have good things coming your way. Here's to 2012 and to new beginnings._


	9. Dinner On Christmas Eve

By the time Cody and Bailey found a table to sit down at, there were plenty of other guests filing in the room in groups of three or four people. Some couples came in as well. While people filed in the room, Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller walked in the ballroom arm in arm. They walked over to the table where Cody and Bailey were sitting and sat down across the young couple's way. Miss Tutweiller was the first to start a conversation.

"Hello, Cody and Bailey. How are you two doing this evening?"

"Bailey and I are fine."

"That's nice to hear."

"How are you and Mr. Moseby, Miss Tutweiller?"

"We're good. Thank you for asking, Bailey."

"Do you two have any plans for Christmas Break?"

"Miss Tutweiller and I don't have any grand plans per se but we do plan to spend as much time as possible with each other. What about you and Bailey? Do you have plans?"

"We don't have anything special planned really."

"Ah. I understand. You two just want to relax?"

"Exactly. I mean, unless we suddenly have a change of heart and want some excitement but I'm pretty sure that we just want to take things easy."

As Cody and Bailey held a conversation together with Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller, Maddie came walking up to the their table and her presence known by gently tapping one of Mr. Moseby's shoulders and cleared her throat. After her simple actions, Maddie got her desired attention from her friends.

"Hi, guys. I don't mean to bother you four but could I join your table?"

"Of course, Maddie. You can sit by Cody and myself."

"Bailey's right. There are two more chairs here at the table. You're welcome to join us."

"Thanks guys."

Maddie gladly and graciously took her spot next to Bailey and Cody. She was situated between Bailey and Mr. Moseby. Maddie was about to ease her way into the group with a very relateable topic to start off a conversation but she cut off by an abrupt and unsophisticated sound of someone's rear end making contact with the last empty chair at the table. The group was perturbed and bemused of the sudden plopping sound that rung in their ears with an unwelcome tone from the vibrations of the sound. Before anyone could turn their heads to see who had just arrived at their table and invited themselves, only to hear the unmistakable voice. The voice that has disturbed each and every one of the members at the table on some level at one point or another. This particular voice did not sink too well with Mr. Moseby and Cody, especially with Cody. It was none other than Zack. He looked at the group with a crooked smile, unaware that he had disrupted his friends' peaceful time of conversing with each other. Zack had taken up the chair in between Miss Tutweiller and Cody. Everyone gave him an odd look except for Cody. As for Cody, he had a very perturbed expression carved into the features of his face which could clearly be marked by his scowl and his furrowed eyebrows. As if out of sheer luck, Bailey happened to glance sideways towards Cody's view and new how frustrated he was with his brother. Out of instinct to calm her boyfriend down and to spare everyone else of discomfort, Bailey carefully and strategically placed her right hand under the table softly on Cody's clenched left fist that was on his left thigh and held it in her hand. She used her thumb to methodically, rub it in a constant and slow motion until Cody's fist seize to keep it shape and flattened out to a straight hand. Sensing that she reached her goal, Bailey patted Cody's formerly strained hand and place her hand back in the rightful position on her lap. All the while that Bailey was holding Cody's hand underneath the table, Cody's tight features loosened gradually on his face and he began to take in easy breathes. Unfortunately, Zack was unaware of his brother's tension as he was busy playing with his fork. Carefree of Cody's troubles, Zack opened his mouth while he balanced a spoon on his nose.

"So what have you guys been talking about?"

Everyone gave each other confused expressions to one another as they didn't know what to say to Zack. Time was ticking away as Zack was losing control of balancing the spoon on his nose. Maddie thought of a true yet comprehensible answer for Zack to keep interest. She spoke up with a quick breathe of fresh air.

"We were just talking about what our plans were for Christmas break."

"Cool. What are they?"

"Well, what I heard and what I gathered is that we all seem to have a set mind of just relaxing."

"Oh, really? I haven't really decided whether or not I want to relax or have some fun."

"Zack?"

"Yeah, Mr. Moseby?"

"I have to ask."

"Why I picked this table? It's because I like you guys."

Zack joyously answered with much energy and slung a lazy arm over Cody's should and brought him in for a half hug. Zack grinned at his younger twin. He gave Cody a playful noogie, released him and then turned his attention back at Mr. Moseby. While Zack paid attention to Mr. Msoeby, Cody was busy fixing his hair. Zack had his eyes locked on Mr. Moseby.

"What do you want Zack?"

"I want to know when we can eat."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"Because I'm bored."

"I'm sure we'll be served food soon."

"I hope so because I'm starving."

"Zack, what's wrong with you? You seem a little off tonight."

"Ah, don't worry, Cody. I'm fine. I just need something in my stomach."

"Okay, if you say so, Zack."

"I say so, Cody."

The moment Zack responded back to Cody, Esteban gladly announced that dinner would be served. Soon after waiters came in with plates of food and served guests by placing dishes upon the already set dishes once each guest had enough sense to move the napkins off the plates. Everything was grand. Each table had the same amount of food and the same dishes. The way that the distribution of the food was taken care of was that each dish of a different food item would be placed in front of separate guest. Each guest would take their share and pass around the food. Once all the food was passed around, everyone would place the empty dishes in the center of the table piled up and then the waiters would take the piled up empty dishes. After the procedure of passing around food was done, everyone simply enjoyed their dinner.

During the dinner, Cody and Bailey took some time away from eating the delicious food to spot Arwin, Carey and London at another table together with three strangers. Cody and Bailey looked at each other and then stifled giggles as they knew what the other saw that they found amusing. Both Cody and Bailey saw London struggling with Carey and she was trying to help London use the right silverware. It's not that London didn't know how to use silverware or which ones to use for the dinner, it's just that she felt under pressure with such a big crowd and got all discombobulated. Cody and Bailey didn't snicker at London for struggling at using the proper silverware, they giggled because the action between Carey and London tickled them on the inside as they had well regards for the two and that they just thought it sort of admirable how the two acted with each other, like close-knit mother and daughter. It at all Carey was London's first mother-figure while Miss Tutweiller was a close second mother-figure. The young couple stopped their giggling completely and resumed eating their dinner with the exception of stealing glances at each other every once and a while during the course of the dinner.


	10. Caught Under The Mistletoe

Once dinner was over and done with, the guests started to leave with good spirits and full stomachs. A select few people strayed behind and stayed to help the waiters clean up. None of the employees had to be detectives to find out which guests would be kind enough to stay and help them clean up and puts things away. The employees actually expected for the Martins to stay alongside their friends such as Maddie Fitzpatrick and Bailey Pickett. They also were glad to see Mr. Moseby and his fiancée, Miss Tutweiller, stay behind to help as well. As a special surprise, London Tipton stayed to help as well. She made up an excuse that she wanted to see her friends and be with them, which wasn't a lie but London was softening up and maturing.

At first clean up wasn't as easy as it was expected but at least the clean-up crew had plenty of extra hands to help them out. Zack carried dirty dishes to the kitchen with two waiters while Carey and Miss Tutweiller brought in the silverware. Mr. Moseby and Cody were taking off decorations and the napkins with the napkin rings from the tables while Bailey and Maddie pulled off table clothes. London swept the floor while other employees took care of scraps of food left on the tables and on the floor. After everything was taken care of, the ballroom was clean. Some could even say that it was spotless like the ballroom was never used.

After the clean-up, everyone else that had stayed behind left the ballroom in small groups. The employees left first then Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller left right behind them. Maddie, Zack, London, and Carey left with each other and Cody and Bailey were the last to leave. When Cody and Bailey had completely vacated the ballroom and entered the lobby, they could clearly see that their friends had submerged themselves in deep conversation about a variety of topics. Cody and Bailey weren't exactly in the lobby but they were under a doorway were decorations could be hung over their heads. The young couple didn't mind themselves to move from where they stood because they immersed in observing their friends. As Cody and Bailey observed the actions of their friends and even some of the other guests' actions, they felt as though there were going to be good tidings for the new year of 2012. They had good connotations in their souls and in their hearts that the New Year would bring good things.

Little children were racing through towards the arcade to play games while their parents relaxed in the lobby talking to each other or reading books. As children left the vicinity of the lobby, Carey was busy talking to Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller. Zack and Maddie were talking with London. As people occupied themselves with simple chitter chatter and enjoyable company, the evening of Christmas Eve aged as time slipped by like the last sands slipping down in an hour glass. Everything seemed so peaceful, everyone seemed so calm. Cody took the opportunity to look over to Bailey to strike up a conversation with her. The intelligent, blonde haired young man softly swiveled on his heels to turn towards his girlfriend. Bailey felt a soft stare emitting onto her from Cody and faced him.

"Hi, Bailey."

"Hi, Cody."

"What did you think of the dinner?"

"Cody, why are you just talking small talk?"

"Why not? At least we're talking. By the way, how was dinner?"

"I guess you have a point. At least we are talking. Not talking to you for very long would kill me. To answer your original question, I enjoyed the dinner. What about you?"

"I thought that the dinner was great. There was plenty to go around. Crab, pasta, bread and salad and let's not forget about the desert."

"The apple crisp was great."

"And while the adults had Irish coffee, all the under-aged guests had peppermint hot chocolate or tea."

"That was a nice touch to add to the desert after dinner."

"I agree, Bailey. But we also had the option of thumbprint cookies filled with strawberry jam and grape jelly."

"Those cookies were delicious."

"Yes, they were very tempting to me."

"I agree that they were tempting, Cody. By the way, what time is it?"

Cody quickly looked at his watch that was under his red long sleeve and read the time.

"It's eight thirty now. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to keep track of time."

"Well, that's understandable. But don't you sometime want for time slip by?"

"We did that at dinner. We were fine."

"But what could we do now? I don't think that we want time to pass us by slowly at this point in the evening."

"We could find a topic to talk about."

"Like what? We need something to really distract us for a good long while."

"Um, Cody, I have a question."

"What is it Bailey?"

"Were you being serious when you said what you said when I told you that I saw your shrine?"

"Yes. Of course, I was being serious."

"Well, I guess I can relax now. I was just checking."

"There's no need for you to feel insecure about us, Bailey."

"Alright, I believe you."

Bailey shied away from Cody's stare. She suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable around him for some odd reason. Bailey awkwardly looked up at the ceiling with her hand behind her back and allowed her eyes to travel along the view of grooves in the ceiling and the decorations. All the bright colors attracted her to look onward just avoid eye contact with Cody. While Bailey looked around, she rocked herself back and forth on her feet before speaking up again.

"You know, Cody, the Tipton employees did a fine job of decorating the lobby."

Cody just looked up the decorations and had to agree with Bailey but quickly looked back to her direction and gave her a hum as a response to show her that he heard her. Bailey still looked at the ceiling until she spotted a particular piece of decoration that hung deliberately over her and Cody's heads. A deep crimson color surfaced quickly on Bailey's fair colored cheeks and had spread like wildfire across her nose and cheeks. Bailey finally found the source of her feeling nervous around Cody and it mistletoe. Bailey dropped her head back into the normal position and turned back Cody.

"Cody, look up. There's something hanging over our heads."

Cody calmly looked up above his head and spotted the mistletoe. He suddenly felt nervous and began to shutter. His body shook as he became anxious. He looked back at Bailey with a matching blush.

"Uh, Bailey, we're under the mistletoe."

"I know. That's why I wanted you to look up so you would know."

"Well, um, do you… I mean do you think that you want to…?"

Bailey backed up against one of the sides of the doorway. Cody noticed Bailey's response which caused him to awkwardly look back up the mistletoe. Cody thought about the mistletoe and had a something to talk about it.

"You know, Bailey, mistletoe is the common name for obligate hemi-parasitic plants in several families in the order Santalales."

"Yes, I know. Mistletoe would be attached to a tree or shrub by a structure called the haustorium and absorbs nutrients from the host plant. Although as a Christmas tradition, people, particularly couples, kiss under the mistletoe."

"Uh huh."

"Cody?"

"Yeah, Bailey?"

Cody looked back at Bailey as soon as she called his name in the form of a question. Bailey turned her head back to Cody's direction so that she would be facing him.

"Will we kiss? I mean we don't have to do so if we don't feel comfortable."

"Well, we could move on. You know, just walk under and away from the mistletoe and move on with our lives. Standing the mistletoe sure does make us feel uncomfortable."

"Um sure, Cody, if that's alright with you."

Cody stood where he was as he stared at Bailey. She looked so beautiful and so shy. He knew that he was witnessing a vulnerable side of Bailey and it the type of vulnerable side where she appeared cute. Bailey appeared to be adorable to Cody as he watched her stay still while leaning against the right side of the doorway. Things became very awkward between Cody and Bailey as they had ceased to move and Cody hadn't realized how long he was staring at Bailey. The silent tension caused Bailey to turn her head away from Cody. In the instant that Bailey had turned her head away from Cody for what would be the last time, Cody decided to do something about. He knew what he wanted to do; it was just a matter of getting Bailey's attention. Cody quietly inched forward.

"Bailey."

Before Bailey could turn her head around, Cody, in one swift and smooth motion, placed his right hand on her left cheek, turned her head all the way to face him and pulled her in for a kiss. Cody placed his left hand on Bailey's right cheek and leaned into the kiss. Bailey's eyes were wide open as she was not expecting such a sudden and bold action from Cody to kiss her underneath the mistletoe. But within a few seconds after her initial shock, Bailey closed her eyes and melted into kiss and wrapped her arms around Cody's neck. Cody pinned Bailey to the side of the doorway with his body as he softly kissed her on the lips and began to caress her left cheek with his right hand by lightly brushing the backside of his fingers against the soft skin. Bailey lightly played with the loose strands of hair that clung to Cody's neck as a response to Cody caressing her cheek. The kiss lasted for two minutes and once it was over, Cody and Bailey pulled away to see that either of their partner no longer had a deep crimson color etched into their cheeks. In fact, both Cody and Bailey returned to their confident, calm and content selves. They no longer had a shy demeanor. Cody and Bailey widely smiled at each other. They began to laugh as they realized how sill they were acting for quite a while ago.

"What happened to us?"

"I don't know, Cody. All I know is that we're out of our awkward and nervous states and we should be happy now."

"I agree. Do you want to save our evening by doing simple yet pleasing activities with each other, Bailey?"

"I would like that but I think we need to pick a different location since the lobby looks pretty crowded."

"I would like to be with you in a more private and comfortable place. How about we go up to the 23rd floor?"

"That sounds perfect. You're place or mine?"

"I want to relax with you in your room. I'm afraid that we won't have enough privacy if Zack or my mom came back before the night was over."

"I agree with you, Cody."

Cody and Bailey walked away from the mistletoe and weaved their way through the crowd of people and made their way to the elevators. When one of the elevators opened up, they went straight up to the 23rd floor and headed straight for Bailey's hotel room.


	11. Loosen Up Jolly Spirits

While Cody and Bailey were heading up to the twenty third floor of the Tipton Hotel of Boston, Zack and Maddie were talking to each other.

"So, Zack, what do you plan to take for your second semester?"

"I don't know. I should sign up for classes soon though."

"Do you have anything specific that you have to take or you like to take?"

"No. Not really. I figure, I'll just take general education classes and see if I want to continue going to college once I'm done with the school year."

"Well at least you have a plan. Do you know what you want to do?"

"No."

Zack looked over Maddie's shoulder and saw that Cody and Bailey had just entered one of the elevators. He didn't bother to bug them or even try to ease-drop on them either. Although he was curious as to what they would be doing together and alone….up on the twenty third floor. Zack weighed out the pros and cons of spying on his brother and girlfriend before deciding not to bother them. He had other things to do.

When Cody and Bailey got up to Bailey's hotel room, Bailey got her key out and opened the door. She walked right into the room with Cody walking close behind her. Bailey placed the key on the counter of the kitchenette and went straight to the couch. She sat down and sighed out of frustration. Cody knitted his eyebrows together and furrowed them as he was concerned and confused for Bailey's reaction. He sat down next to her as she was rubbing her temples on the sides of her forehead. Cody gingerly placed his left hand on Bailey's back and began to move it in a circular motion going in a clockwise direction.

"Bailey, what's wrong?"

"Zack. He came at our table and casually set himself down. His actions shocked us all and the worst part was that he got you riled up."

"But that happened before dinner. Why would you be bothered by it now?"

"It's because if I didn't sense that you were becoming very upset and not calm you down then things could have gone very bad and the dinner would have been ruined before it started. But there was something else that I had just remembered when we passed your family's suite."

"What was it?"

"How do you cope being Zack's younger twin? Isn't it frustrating?"

"It is frustrating but I found out that I wasn't the only one that felt like I was a shadow of the other twin. Zack felt the same way."

"But still…"

Cody cut Bailey off by pressing his fingers over her lips.

"I was able to cope being Zack's nerdy brother by knowing that our mother favored me over him and that people found me useful and reliable."

Cody removed his fingers from Bailey's lips.

"But doesn't your father favor Zack? And didn't have more friends than you?"

"Both are true but I was determined to get out of Zack's shadow when it came to having friends."

"Well what do you think you have over your brother?"

"I got a meaningful relationship before he did."

"With Barbara when you guys were in middle school?"

"No, when I got you to be my girlfriend. That's when I got a meaningful relationship."

"Oh…"

Cody coyly leaned in towards Bailey while she was thinking of another question and kissed her. His action caught Bailey off guard but then she melted into the kiss. The kiss didn't last long but it was long enough for the young couple to enjoy themselves. Cody and Bailey's broke the kiss after thirty seconds of lip contact. The two leaned back against the couch and snuggled close to one another. Cody carefully slung his left arm behind and across Bailey's back as to allow it to rest on her left shoulder. Bailey leaned on her right and dug her body into Cody's left side and tucked her head gingerly beneath Cody's chin. The intelligent young adults cuddled close together on the couch while they lazily stared into the empty air before them.

While Cody and Bailey were relaxing, Zack had just ended his conversation with Maddie. She had left him and went on her way to talk to Carey. Zack searched the crowd for someone else to talk to but alas he couldn't find anyone. He sauntered around and about the lobby until he decided to go talk to Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller. He carefully approached the to-be-married couple. He couldn't imagine them getting married but then again he couldn't imagine how Cody ended up with Bailey. Sometimes life was full of surprises for Zack. He walked up to the engaged couple and gently tapped on Mr. Moseby's right shoulder. Luckily, Mr. Moseby had just finished talking to Carey and Esteban and slowly turned around to meet Zack's eyes.

"Hello, Zack. How are you this fine evening?"

"I'm just great, Mr. Moseby. Do you think tomorrow will be good? I mean will it be good weather wise?"

"As long as the snow stays as it is and there isn't a storm, everything should be fine. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering. By the way, how are you and Miss T?"

"We're doing good. Thank you for asking, Zack."

"Hey, no problem, Mr. Moseby. Well, it's getting kind of late. I think I should head up now before Santa comes to the Tipton."

"Good plan, Zack. I think that you could turn over a new leaf for the New Year."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! One step at a time for the Zack Attack. I need to gradually turn over a new leaf very slowly as to not break or rip it. Well, I better hit the hay, Mr. Moseby."

"Goodnight, Zack."

Zack gives Mr. Moseby a naval salute before stepping up the stairs to the elevator. However, before Zack has a chance to press the up button to the elevators, Esteban taps on his right shoulder to get his attention. Zack turns around to come face-to-face with Esteban.

"Hey, what's up Esteban?"

"Zack would you be ever so kind to help me with an impending task?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, you see, in order for hotel guests to enjoy a Christmas, a Christmas tree is provided in the lobby. Unfortunately, I've been having trouble lifting the tree without damaging any of the ornaments. Will you please help me bring the tree into the lobby?"

"Sure thing, Esteban."

"Oh, thank you so much, Zack. Once we have the tree in position, you are free to leave."

"Sweet. Let's get that tree in here."

Zack leaves the lobby with Esteban to the hallway on the right of the front and retrieves the tree. With their combined effort, Zack and Esteban carefully lift the tree and bring in back into the lobby. They find a clearing in the lobby and set the tree down. Once the task of setting the tree down was done, Esteban looked up the already decorated tree and then looked back at Zack and gave him an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Zack, for helping me out."

"Sure thing, Esteban."

Zack waves Esteban off and goes back to the elevators. He presses the up button and while he waited for one of the elevators to open, he checked the time on his watch. The time was 10 pm. Zack sighed a bit and looked to his right to watch the snow fall. It was falling down to the ground pretty fast. He began to feel a bit worried that there could be a chance that there could be a snow storm. Zack didn't have the chance to worry about a snow storm as he heard a ding sound coming from one of the elevators and the left one opened up. Zack went inside and went straight up to his family's suite on the twenty third floor. He walked inside the suite and headed for his and Cody's old bedroom. He changed out of his clothes and into some pajamas. Once he was in his pjs, Zack laid flat on his back on his back waiting to fall asleep.


	12. All Is Right

As Zack waited for sleep to take over his body, a thought occurred to him: when would Cody come back from hanging out with Bailey? Zack sat up from his bed and looked around the room in hopes that his younger twin brother would arrive at any moment. He waited for a good five minutes just staring at the door. He stood up and waited for another twenty minutes while he paced back and forth in the room. Then he walked out of the room and waited for another five minutes staring at the front door. Finally the door to the suite opened and Zack actually got a little excited. He waited with great anticipation while the person behind the door was opening it. When the door was opened all the way, it revealed Carey. Zack knitted his eyebrows together and furrowed them as he frowned. Cody hadn't come back yet and his mom had. Carey closed the door behind her and then frowned when she saw her oldest son frowning. She wanted to know what was troubling him.

"Hey, Zack. What's wrong?"

"Cody isn't back yet."

Carey lightened up and smiled.

"What do expect? He's with Bailey. I saw them come up here on the elevator."

"But Cody has been with Bailey all night."

"Well of course he is. He's in a serious relationship with Bailey."

"But shouldn't he spend time with us?"

"Zack, listen. Cody has spent enough time with us. It doesn't hurt for him to spend time with Bailey. He finally found someone that loves him for who he is outside of our family. And I would be shocked if Cody didn't marry Bailey. She seems to be the right girl for him."

"Yeah but mom, he's spending a lot of time with her."

"So? I've been spending a lot of time with Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller and you've been spending a lot of time with Maddie. You got to understand something, Zack. Sometimes it's okay to have to time to yourself or with other people. It's healthy to spend time with other people."

"Why now? It's Christmas for Pete's Sake!"

"Bailey won't be here the whole time. Cody just wants to spend as much time as can with her before she has to leave. I'm sure he'll be spending time with us once she's gone back home."

"Yeah but then he'll only talk about her."

"For a little while then he'll get over it. What do you want him to do? Not be in love? Zack, Cody is not going to ignore us. He loves us. He just wants to be with Bailey now."

"…Okay…"

"Good. Now stop whining about your brother not being here. I'm sure he'll be back before midnight."

"…Fine."

Carey walked up to Zack and tussled his hair before walking past him to go to the bathroom. Zack swiveled on his heels to brood his way back to his and Cody's old bedroom. Once he was inside, he closed the door behind and paced back and forth in the room. He paced to and fro in the room for at least ten minutes before plopping down on his bed again. Zack thought of reasons why Cody preferred to be Bailey and sad truth hit him. Cody wanted to be with Bailey more for the simple fact that she accepted him for who he was much quicker than Zack did and that she had more things in common with Cody than he did. It hurt Zack inside but he knew that it wasn't Cody's or Bailey's faults, it was his own fault. Zack just decided not to worry anymore and allowed for sleep to take over his body and spirit.

All the while that Zack was waiting for Cody's return, Cody was still in a comfortable position with Bailey but they were talking. As time dwindled away, their conversation shifted from academics to family and friends and then to particular people in their lives such as Zack, London and Maddie. By the time Cody and Bailey were talking about Zack, Carey was talking to Zack about Cody being with Bailey. Ironically, Bailey and Cody were done cuddling at the same that Zack was brooding in his room because they wanted to stretch out their muscles. When Cody and Bailey stood up from the couch, they clasped hands together and walked towards the door on instinct. Cody pulled Bailey close to him as he leaned against the wall that was close to the door. He loving stared into her brown eyes and leaned his forehead against her forehead without breaking eye contact.

"Well, this was nice, Bails. Just relaxing and doing nothing with you was just absolutely what I needed."

"I agree. I'm just glad that whether we do a million things or do nothing at all that we can be completely content and comfortable with each other."

"That's brilliant power of true love. Being able to do anything or nothing at all and still being happy with the one true person you're in love with."

Cody kisses Bailey on the forehead, tenderly.

"I think you should get back to your family now. I have a bad feeling that Zack might be upset that his brother isn't there."

"Why would you suspect that, Bailey?"

"You two are twins and Zack probably isn't used to being separated from you where it really counts."

"I know. He's probably jealous that I've been spending so much time with you as supposed to him."

"It's not your fault and he seemed just fine talking to Maddie."

"Yeah, I know."

"Besides, he's probably misses you because he's bored. He doesn't have you to bother you and keep his boredom at bay."

"You're probably right. But even so, he can miss me just for the simple fact that he misses bonding with me."

"I can understand that. Well, you better not let Zack wait any longer, Cody."

"Okay, Bailey. See you in the morning."

Cody opens the door and walks underneath the doorway. He turns around to give Bailey a goodnight kiss. He leans in and kisses her on the lips. She full heartily reciprocates his action and kisses him back. The sweet, tender kiss lasts for a minute before the happy couple release one another. Right after the kiss, Cody and Bailey pull each other in for a quick hug and then release. Cody turns back away from Bailey and walks back to his family suite. She smiles at him and then closes the door to her hotel room.

When Cody entered the family suite, he had a smile on his face. He casually entered his and Zack's bedroom. Unfortunately, he was forced to wipe off his smile when he was greeted by Zack with a scowl on his face. Cody felt uncomfortable with Zack scowling at him. He nervously rubbed the backside of his neck with his right hand.

"Um…. hi, Zack. What's up with the scowl?"

Zack crossed his arms across his chest, turned his head away from Cody and had let his back fall on the mattress of his bed.

"Nothing, Cody. I was just waiting for you."

Cody dropped his hand from the backside of his neck and sighed in relief. He knew that he wasn't in any real danger even if Zack did just seethe at him. Cody relaxed his tense muscles.

"Bailey and I figured you would act like this way."

Zack quickly turned his head back towards Cody and jolted up from his bed. He uncrossed his arms and stared at his brother.

"What do you mean that you and Bailey knew how I was going to react?"

"We were talking about you beforehand and Bailey suggested that I come back soon before you completely blow your top. I agreed because I knew that I couldn't stay with her and for the fact that you might too bored too quickly. What did you think that we would do?"

"Well, I didn't know that."

"Maybe you should learn to be more patient with people. I'm not trying avoid you and mom, it's just I wanted to show Bailey around and spend some time with her since I know that she won't be around for very long."

"Oh… Well, I guess that's okay. And I guess that you're right that I need to become more patient. Sorry for giving you a hard time when you came back here."

"It's okay, Zack. Do you think mom's still awake?"

"Probably not."

"Okay, thanks."

"Why did you ask?"

"I was just wondering."

"Um, okay then."

Cody smiled at Zack, knowing everything was okay between the two of them. He quickly grabbed some pajamas and went into the bathroom to change. While Cody got changed, Zack eased up and huddled underneath the covers of his bed. By the time that Zack was all cozy and snug in his bed, Cody came back ready to go to bed as well. The younger Martin twin set aside his clothes and then turned off the light switch. He got into bed and simply allowed himself to fall asleep. The night was calm with the exception of Zack's snoring. The next day to come would be a happy day.


	13. Christmas Day Has Come

Christmas morning came and early risers had snuck presents under the tree to be ready for unwrapping later on in the morning. Snow gently fell to the ground outside while the inside warmed up with good insulation and constant circulation of body heat with a touch of heat from the hotel's heaters. By eight, almost everyone was up and ready for Christmas except for one lazy boy. While other hotel guests were going about their own business for their Christmas traditions, the Martin family and their friends were gathering around the only Christmas tree that was set in the lobby.

Cody and Bailey were sitting close together on the couch while Miss Tutweiller and Carey sat in chairs. Maddie sat next to Cody and bailey while Mr. Moseby stood behind Miss Tutweiller. London came by and sat on the arm of the couch near Maddie. Esteban and Arwin had finally arrived with the rest of the gang and all of them were excited to open presents but they were still waiting for one more person, one very lazy person. That person was Zack. Carey looked at her watch and it was ten past eight. She looked over at everyone's tired expressions and then looked over at Cody.

"Cody did you try to wake up Zack before you left?"

"Yeah, mom. I tried really hard but he rolled over in his bed."

"Do you think he'll wake up himself?"

"No. I'll go up back to room and wake him up."

"Would you like a blow horn?"

"I think that would be handy."

Cody stood up and took the blow horn from Carey.

"Thanks mom. I'm going to go wake up Zack. Hopefully this will work."

"Good luck, Cody."

Cody walks past the couch but is stopped by Bailey. She kept her grip on his arm as she stood up from the couch. She stared at him. He stared back at her and knew that she didn't feel right letting him going through the task of waking up Zack by himself. Cody smiled at Bailey and released her grip on his arm. He gave her a reassuring nod and went up to the suite. Bailey slowly reclaimed her spot on the couch. Everyone else was stunned how well Cody and Bailey's communication had developed as a couple. The two young adults understood each other without any words and it shocked their friends. When Bailey relaxed back in her spot, London had to comment first.

"What was that Bailey?"

Bailey turned her head towards London in slight confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"What was that between you and Cody? Did you and Cody use telepathy?"

"Not really, London. Cody and I just have a really deep connection. I guess we can understand each other without even using words."

"Like I said during spring break, you two are a barn yard full of crazy."

"London, we're not crazy, we're in love and we understand each other."

"Whatever. I still think you're crazy being with Cody. I mean, he's Cody for Pete's sake!"

"Whatever you say, London."

"I think it's sweet that you and Cody have such a deep connection."

Bailey smiled at Maddie's sincere tone.

"Thank you, Maddie."

"You're welcome."

London then butted in as she was getting bored.

"Well, enough love talk. When do you think Cody will wake up Zack and come back down with him?"

"I don't know, London."

"Why not?"

"I don't know how hard it is to wake up Zack."

London grunted from Bailey's answer and turned her head away from her friend.

Elsewhere, Cody had just entered the suite and walked right through to his and Zack's bedroom. He sighed and plugged one of his ears to prepare for using the blow horn. He got close to Zack's ears and blew the horn. A massive sound wave swept through Zack's ears. Repercussions of blasting sound wrung through Zack eardrums. He woke up in an instant and screeched from the blast as he jolted up in a sitting position in his bed. He stuck his fingers in his ears to ring out piercing sound from his ears. He angrily turned towards Cody. Zack gritted his teeth as he spoke with Cody.

"What was THAT for?"

"I needed to wake you up. Everyone downstairs is waiting for you so we can start Christmas."

"WHAT! It's Christmas already? How long has everyone been waiting for me?"

"About ten minutes and they'll be waiting for fifteen minutes by the time you get dressed. Come on, Zack, get out of bed and get dressed. We have things to do."

"Alright. Get out of the room so I can get ready."

"Okay but hurry up."

Zack got of bed and pushed Cody out of the bedroom. He then closed the door right behind Cody once he was out of the room completely. After five minutes of changing, Zack came out the room completely dressed. He and Cody rushed out the suite and quickly went down the elevator to the lobby. By the time that Zack and Cody got back to the group, it was eight twenty. Everyone smiled as they noticed that Cody succeeded in waking up Zack. Cody smiled back but Zack had a flat line for a mouth. Cody walked up to his mother and returned the blow horn to her and then reclaimed his rightful spot next to Bailey on the couch. Carey carefully put away the blow horn in her purse as Cody was walking back to the couch. Zack found a place to stand behind Maddie and London. Zack looked up and stared at the tree that had many gifts stuffed underneath it.

"So can we get the gift unwrapping started?"

"Sure, Zack", Mr. Moseby said.

"I'll start passing the first gifts", Esteban offered.

Esteban got a few gifts to hand out to some people and then he went back to get the rest. Once everyone got their first presents, Miss Tutweiller gave everyone the 'okay' to start unwrapping beginning with the younger member of the group. It system went as from youngest to oldest and in this case Bailey was the first person while Mr. Moseby was the very last person to open gifts. This went on for a good thirty minutes or so. After all the gifts were unwrapped and all the necessary and sincere 'thanks yous' were in order, everybody hugged each other for the gifts and said 'Merry Christmas and gathered their things in neat piles. The majority of the gifts were things that everyone needed or wanted and some of them were clothing. Some of the more notable gifts were dvds, books, designer pillows and a cooking set. After that, Carey asked what everyone would be doing for the rest of the day. Agendas were shared and Carey made an appointment for everybody to meet for a Christmas dinner.

All of them agreed on the plan. Afterwards, each one of them gathered their gifts to set aside in their rooms for safe keeping. Once the tedious task of stashing gifts for safe keeping was done, everyone went their separate ways for the rest of the day until dinner later that night. Esteban, Arwin and Carey returned to their usual duties while Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller went out for a stroll in the park. Cody and Bailey did their own thing in the hotel and Zack secretly followed them. Maddie and London just simply talked in the lobby, catching up with each other.


	14. No More Stalking Stuffers

While everyone else had plans, Zack was stalking Cody and Bailey. He was hoping that he creep up on them and scare them or at least pull a prank on them. All he had to do was to be quieter than a mouse. As Cody and Bailey were talking, Zack was making grossed out expressions behind their backs. He couldn't believe how sickingly sweet they still were to each other. As Cody tenderly kissed Bailey on the cheek, Zack was wondering if it was worth spying on them if he could barely handle looking at them being all sweet to one another. When he was with Maya, they weren't as mushy as Cody and Bailey. It absolutely bewildered Zack how he and Maya acted so differently as a couple from how Cody and Bailey were. But he didn't want to leave without bugging the happy couple in some way.

Zack crept up and stretched out his hands on either side of his brother and friend. His left hand was nearing Bailey's left shoulder while his right hand was nearing towards Cody's right shoulder. He didn't have to stretch his hands too far apart since Cody and Bailey were pretty close together. They were practically joined to the hip. He crept up and strategically placed his hands on the shoulders of his victims in a swift motion as he yelled out 'Boo!'

Both Cody and Bailey jolted out of shock. Unfortunately for Zack, Bailey's reaction was different from Cody's. Out of instinct to protect herself, Bailey whipped her right hand and hit Zack square in the face. He had a big red mark across his face. His cheeks were so red that he could have passed as Santa Claus. He fell down flat on his back. When Cody and Bailey turned around to see who snuck up behind them, they had a hint of guilt etched on their faces as they saw that Zack was knocked out on the floor with a big red mark on his face. Bailey slightly cringed at the site as she realized that she accidentally hit Zack in the face.

"Oh no, Cody. Zack's hurt and it's my fault."

"Don't blame yourself, Bailey. It was an accident and you were only trying to protect yourself. If at all I should have done something to keep you safe."

"Well, at the very least we should help Zack up from the floor."

Cody and Bailey go on either side of Zack , grab his arms and pick him up. They gently rest his unconscious body against a wall. Bailey holds onto Zack while Cody thinks of a way to wake him up. He thinks of a way of waking Zack up without causing too much pain to him. Cody pinches Zack's nose and Zack wakes up by gasping for breath. When she is sure that Zack is okay, Bailey lets go of Zack to allow him to stand up on his own. Zack rubs his nose and then looks over at Cody.

"Yo, Cody, what happened?"

"Bailey accidentally knocked you unconscious."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, Zack."

Zack rubbed his neck and mumbled something about Karma. Cody wanted to know what he said since he heard a mumble come from his twin brother.

"What did you say Zack?"

"I said: That's what I get for sneaking up behind you two."

Cody and Bailey immediately furrowed their eyebrows and became infuriated with Zack. Bailey was about to tell off Zack but Cody held her back. Instead, he stepped up to scorn his brother.

"What do you mean you were sneaking up behind us? Zack, were you thinking on pulling a prank on us?"

Zack gave Cody a sheepish smile.

"Well, actually, yeah. But I could barely focus when I'm being grossed out by you two being so sweet to each other."

"Zack, why would want to try and prank on us? I thought that you were maturing just enough a little bit but I was wrong."

"But Cody I was bored…"

"Why you can't something else that won't get into trouble when you're bored?"

"I don't know."

"Well, figure something out. I recommend that you DO NOT bother Bailey and myself for the rest of the day."

Zack was absolutely dumbfounded. Cody was really ticked off by his antics. Cody sighed out frustration, leaned against a wall and dug his face into the palms of his hands. Bailey walked over to Cody with a frown on her face. She comforted him as he mumbled underneath his breath. Zack was about to apologize to Cody but Bailey looked up at him with a stone faced expression. Zack could only guess that whatever Bailey was going to say to him meant that she meant business.

"Zack, just leave."

"But-"

"Leave."

Zack was scared stiff by the forced and demanding yet quiet word that came out of Bailey's mouth. Zack hung his head low, turned around and left. By the time Zack left the general area, Bailey turned attention back to Cody. She could see that he had removed his hands from his face and had lifted his head up to face her. Bailey tenderly looked into Cody's tired eyes and lightly brushed her fingers across the top of his hair. Cody slowly breathed in some air.

"Bailey."

Bailey didn't need to ask Cody to know what he wanted, she simply did it. She brought him in her arms and hugged him. He naturally hugged her back and leaned into her body to rest his chin on her right shoulder. They stayed in the same position for two minutes before leaning away from the embrace without letting go of one another. Cody stared into Bailey brown eyes and bored into her soul. He could see comfort and concern in her and he was grateful that she was in his life. Cody kissed Bailey on the forehead before letting go of her.

"Bailey, do you think Zack will ever learn from his mistakes?"

"I don't know. He might eventually learn but any time soon. What do you think, Cody? I mean you've known him longer than I have."

"I think that he might learn from his mistakes eventually, especially if it something happens that causes him to almost lose people who are close to him."

"I think so, too. He just needs the right push."

"He was better off with Maya. She seemed to keep him under control and happy."

"Like how you're better off with me?"

Bailey was smiling as she teased Cody but half of her was being serious.

"Oh, definitely."

Cody totally ignored the playful hint in Bailey's tone of voice as he was being serious when he agreed with her statement. Bailey laced her fingers into Cody's fingers and looked up at him with bright smile.

"Do you want to go take a stroll through the park?"

"I'm all for it."

Cody smiled at Bailey and slightly tightened his grip on her hand. They walked out of the hallway that were in and went back out to the lobby to exit through the front doors. They left the lobby with ease and headed straight for the park.


	15. Empathy Not Apathy

Time slithered slowly away from the cold Christmas day. When Cody and bailey had left the Tipton to go to the park, Mr. Moseby and Miss Tutweiller just happened to come back from the park. Hours ticked away as everyone had plans until the dinner later that night. Everyone had plans….well except for one dismal Zachary Martin. He had had enough of his childish pranks that drove his friends and his brother farther away from him because he was too immature for them to handle. Zack knew what he had to do and actually turn over a new leave before the current year was over starting with the dinner. As Cody and Bailey were at the park relaxing and unwinding from the day's drama from before, Zack was planning to make things better for when he saw his brother and friend come back from wherever they were because honestly, he didn't have a clue where they were.

Five o'clock arrived and the clock struck on the hour when Cody and Bailey came back just in time to get ready for the dinner that night. Before everyone had made their separate ways in the morning, Cody offered to cook the Christmas dinner and Carey offered to invite everyone else to come join them in the suite. When Cody offered to cook the dinner, Bailey offered to help him and no one objected to the youngest members of the group cooking the meal. After things were settled since then, Cody and Bailey have been talking about what they would cook for the dinner as they strolled through the park. Zack saw Cody and Bailey walk up to the elevators to go up to the suite to prepare for dinner. He could clearly see that Bailey had one of her arms looped around one of Cody's arms but couldn't register which side to which person as they were basically blurs of bodies moving into an elevator.

Without a thought in his mind, Zack went up to the elevators to apologize for his wrong doing to Cody and Bailey. Fortunately for him, it didn't take very long to get up to the 23rd floor and approach the suite. But he didn't go in as he heard playful banter emitting from inside the room indicating that Cody and Bailey had already started to prepare for making dinner and that they sounded perfectly content with just the two of them in there. Zack dejectedly decided to not bother Cody and Bailey and go back down to the lobby. He didn't feel that he would be welcomed in their presence even if he was going to apologize to them. He knew that the best way to show that he was sorry and the he did care was by not talking to them and to apologize to them either right before or right after dinner. With a good plan set in his head, Zack left and went back to the lobby to do whatever he pleased as long as it didn't get him into trouble.

Two hours passed by and Cody and Bailey were finally done cooking dinner. They agreed that they would Carey know that it was okay to invite everyone else to the suite together. Before they informed Carey about dinner being ready, Cody and Bailey also agreed to wash up and get ready before meeting each other to go down to the lobby. Once Cody and Bailey were all washed up and ready, they looped arms and went down to the lobby. When they got there, they immediately bumped into Carey and informed her on dinner. She simply smiled at the couple and got everyone else's attention. Everyone paid attention to Carey and soon after they went into two groups of five people up the elevators to the suite on the 23rd floor. When all of them entered, they were impressed. Everybody helped each other get a spot to seat down and all was going well. Some of them gave miniature speeches to show their gratitude for the holiday as they were surrounded by loved ones that they could share the happiness with. Once everyone was able to say at least one thing that they were grateful for, everyone dug into to delicious food that Cody and Bailey prepared.

The food that was set on a long table that Cody had gotten before he and Bailey had started to cook. There was a plenty of food to go around. There was a mixed greens salad, linguine pasta with a marinara sauce and oysters and some olive stuffed bread. Everyone happily enjoyed their dinner together. Over the course of the meal, everybody talked amongst themselves. At one point there was a combined conversation with Esteban, Arwin, Carey and Miss Tutweiller. During the conversation everyone else put in their two cents of the conversation except for Zack but most of the time they just listened. By the time everyone was done with dinner; Cody, Bailey, and Maddie helped clearing the dishes. Carey asked anyone if they wanted coffee or tea. Some of the members of the group raised their hands for coffee while others raised their hands for tea. It was a 50/50 for coffee and tea. Carey got started on brewing coffee while Mr. Moseby offered to boil water for tea. Luckily, Cody, Bailey and Maddie were done washing the dishes when Carey and Mr. Moseby were entering the small space of the kitchenette.

Cody and Bailey travelled over to the couch and were shortly joined by Maddie and London. Zack noticed that he was at the table with Esteban, Arwin and Miss Tutweiller. He felt so awkward being so young in age as compared to his companions of the night. He turned his head to behind his back and saw his friends chatting away on the couch without him. He felt really crumby and almost felt excluded. Zack knew that Cody probably knew exclusion too well. He decided that it would be no better time than to ask for forgiveness from Cody and Bailey. Zack got up from his seat and walked over to the couch. When he arrived, Cody noticed him first. As a natural reaction, Bailey noticed him and then her action was followed by Maddie and eventually London. Cody and Bailey gave Zack slightly displeased expressions while Maddie and London gave him looks that showed that they were waiting for him to speak up. He breathed in a shallow and tense breath and locked eyes with his brother and his brother's girlfriend. He made sure that he directed his words only at Cody and Bailey.

"Um, look, Cody and Bailey, I want to tell you something but I need to tell you two in private. Could you two please come with me outside the suite?"

Cody and Bailey briefly looked over at each other with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. They then turned back to Zack. Bailey calmly spoke up to advocate for Cody.

"Okay, Zack. We'll come with you if it's so important to you."

"Thanks. Come on we need to talk."

Unwillingly, Cody stood up from the couch and helped Bailey up because he wanted to. He knew that whatever happened between him and Zack that he could always count on her support for him and to keep him sane. He really needed her and to show his appreciation for her, he helped when she didn't need help. The intelligent couple walked side by side behind Zack as they made a short trek through the room to go outside the suite for a little bit. When they placed themselves far enough from the door, Cody and Bailey looked at Zack.

"Well, did you want to talk to us for?"

"Well, as you know, Bailey, I attempted to prank you two but failed."

"And what's your point now?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Cody. I'm here to apologize for my wrong doing towards the two of you. I'm really, really sorry and it just kills me that my brother and one of my good friends could possibly hate me for the rest of my life."

Cody and Bailey's expressions softened a bit but still pretty stone faced towards Zack.

"Go on", Cody encouraged.

"Well, I realized that losing people as special as you two are to be wouldn't be worth pulling a prank that could possibly hurt you guys. It's not worth having you two mad at me for the rest of our lives. And it's definitely not worth losing you two as people that I can depend on if I'm unable to take you two more seriously when something really important to you has gone bad or has been taken away from you."

"And…."

Cody's voice had become softer than before.

"And since I know how you two mean to each other, I vow, if I can help it to be supportive of your relationship and to help protect your relationship if there was ever a person who was trying to sabotage it or try to steal one of two away from the other. Cody, Bailey, you two are a package like a two for one deal. No one could ever pick one and not the other. I'll be happy to help you two out when you need help because I owe you two a lot of favors. You've been there for me and I need to be there for you. So with that said, will you guys forgive me?"

Cody and Bailey gave each other a quick glance that basically said that they would forgive him. They turn their attention back to Zack and form small smiles on their faces. In union, they spoke to him with great sincerity.

"We forgive you, Zack."

Zack cracked a smile and jumped for joy. He tackled them both with a big bear hug while hugging them both at the same time.

"Thank you guys so much. Don't worry about me anymore. I'll be a better person"

"Good to hear that Zack", Cody chuckled.

"I think we should get back inside before we miss out on deserts and after dinner drinks."

"Bailey's right. Come on, Zack, we still have the rest of the night."

"Sure thing, Cody."

The trio of friends went back inside the suite to finish off their Christmas dinner festivities for the night. Time slipped on by as everyone were finishing drinking their drinks and eating gingerbread cookies while talking. The time suddenly came where the group had to disperse into smaller groups to call it for a night. However, Bailey opted to stay behind and help the Martin family with clean up. Afterwards, Cody saw Bailey out by giving her a goodnight's kiss. Everything was cleaned up and Zack and Carey were in their pjs and ready to go to bed. Cody followed his family's example and got ready for bed. He thought of how in such a short time that Christmas came and now it's gone and that Bailey will have to leave soon. He'll only have a few hours left with her so he had to make it count. When Cody came into his and Zack's bedroom, he saw that Zack was knocked out on his bed with his arms and legs sprawled out. Cody stifled a laugh as he looked at his brother. He turned off the light and climbed into bed. He grabbed a picture frame with him and Bailey in it and kissed it were Bailey's face would be. He then put the picture frame down. He then looked at another picture frame with him and Zack in it. He smiled at it and fell asleep.


	16. Dispear And Cheer

The morning that followed after Christmas day was cold. The day after Christmas felt like a very gloomy day especially for one very particular young man who was a student of Yale. Cody Martin got out of bed and got ready for the day. He only had a few hours left to spend time with Bailey before she had to return back home for the remainder of their winter break. He knew that he would see her the rest of the school year but he couldn't help but feel like he was to miss too much. Cody became so dependent of getting through life with Bailey with him. He needed her so much. She was his life preserver. With a quick breathe of fresh air, Cody got his clothes and prepared himself for wee hours that he had left with Bailey.

An hour passed by and Zack woke up, much to his surprise. He dragged himself out of bed and shuffled his feet across the floor as he made his way to the kitchenette to get himself something to eat. He looked around at his surrounding and saw that his brother was finishing a bowl of cereal. Zack cocked an eyebrow up absolutely shocked that Cody hadn't cooked anything for breakfast. Zack had to know what was up.

"Hey, Cody, why didn't you cook something nice this morning?"

"I'm too depressed to want to cook. Bailey's leaving today. Besides, I felt like having cereal."

"But you're going to see her again! It's not the end of the world."

"I know. It's just that ever since Bailey and I wasted six months apart, I feel as though we need to make up for it and now that I've got her back in my life, I want to spend as much time as possible with her. I love her."

"Okay, whatever you say, man."

Zack then looked around and didn't see their mom still sleeping.

"Hey, Cody, where's mom?"

"She woke up five minutes after I had woken up. She grabbed a banana and left, telling me that she would be running some errands."

"Oh."

Zack grabbed a bowl and spoon and snagged the carton of milk and the cereal box. He poured the cereal and milk in the bowl and put the food products away in the proper places. He scooped his spoon in the bowl and started to eat. Cody stood up from the table and washed up his bowl and spoon and put the silverware away. He looked over at Zack who was eating at the table.  
>"You know what, Zack?"<p>

"What?", Zack mumbled through some food.

"This day is pretty sad. How ironic that's it's the day after Christmas."

"Tell me about it. Well that's life for you."

"Zack, do you have any plans for today?"

"Not really. I mean I do plan to something today but I don't have an agenda like you might have. I'm going with the flow."

"Whatever you say, Zack. I'm going to go now."

"Okay, see you later, Codester."

"See you later, Zack."

While Zack was busy scooping up another spoonful of cereal, Cody left the suite. As soon as Cody arrived at Bailey's hotel room, he knocked on the door in a desperate manner. He heard her call him from inside and told him that he could let himself in. He opened the door and looked around to spot Bailey. Cody saw that Bailey was finishing getting her luggage ready when she would to depart. He frowned momentarily before he could let her see his sad expression. Bailey finished closing her suitcase and turned around to face Cody. Oddly enough, Bailey had a sunny smile on her face as she approached Cody. However, she frowned as soon as she could detect that something was amiss from Cody's distressed body language. She knitted her eyebrows together in a downward arch and slid her hands on his slumped shoulders.

"Cody, what's wrong?"

"I'm depressed."

Cody didn't feel like talking much so as an tactic, he attempted to avoid conversation with Bailey by leaning his chin on one of her shoulders.

"Why are you depressed?"

Cody just gave Bailey a mumble in reply. Bailey knew that there was something him but she knew that she couldn't help him unless she could hear him clearly. She knew what she had to do and that to get his chin off her shoulder so she could hear him better. Bailey slipped her right hand behind Cody's neck and gently pinched a part of his skin. She let go as soon as he yelped in pain and jumped back from her while rubbing the back of his neck.

"What was that for, Bailey?"

"I had to do something to get you to speak clearly. Now, may I please know what you're depressed about?"

Cody stopped rubbing his neck and stared into Bailey's brown eyes.

"I don't know why I should be depressed, I just am."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm depressed because I know that today is the day you have to leave and go back home for the rest of the break and that I will only be able to spend just a few more hours with you until you have to leave."

"You're depressed because I'm going to be leaving soon? Cody, I know that you want to spend time with me and that I understand that you want to make up lost time when we foolishly wasted six months apart but you shouldn't feel depressed about my departure."

"Why?"

Bailey looked deep into Cody's eyes and she walked up to him. She cupped his face with her left hand and stared at his aqua eyes with deep sincerity.

"Cody, I would never want for you to feel the way that you do right now because I'm leaving. Sure, we'll miss each other while be apart from each other but that's okay. Neither one of us is going to die and we're definitely not going to break-up again ever. Please, believe me."

Cody took in a deep breathe, leaned his forehead against Bailey's and looked at her with a better attitude.

"I believe you."

Bailey smiled and then quickly gave him a peck on the lips. Cody leaned away and she pulled herself away from his body.

"I guess we have to do as many things as we can without passing out before you have to go."

"Are we seriously going to do a lot of activities?"

"No. My point is that we better start our day of spending as much time together as we can before you have to leave."

"Okay, that's fine with me."

Cody and Bailey left the hotel room and spent the rest of the morning together.

They did all that they could to spend time together before it was almost time for Bailey to leave. While Cody and Bailey were walking in the lobby, hand-in-hand, they spotted Zack and Maddie in the lobby talking to each other. One particular detail that Cody and Bailey did notice was that their friends were standing under the mistletoe.

"Do you think that they know?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should ask them."

"Maybe we should. I mean, it looks like Zack is about to stop talking to catch some breathe."

"How do you know that?"

"I've seen him talk for a certain amount of time before he runs out of breathe while talking to Maddie."

"Why would you know this?"

"Because I'm always out of breathe when I see you."

"That was so corny of you to say that."

"You would know."

"What does _THAT _mean?"

"You said corny which could refer to the main crop from your hometown, Kettle_corn_, which is _corn_."

"Oh, like you're so smart, _brain boy_."

"_Farm girl_."

There was an awkward silence between Cody and Bailey. Cody had abruptly let go of Bailey's hand as both of his hands. He began to rub his sweaty hands on his pants.

"You know…we kind of sound like London."

"That's a scary thought."

"You know, we were just teasing each other."

"I would know since I started it and now I can't get my hands dry."

"Why?"

"Because now I want to add an adjective to when I was teasing you about being a farm girl and turn it into something nicer."

"Well, I have something to admit as well…"

"What's that?"

"You sure are a sweet and smart guy."

"Huh. I was going to say that you're a cute country girl."

Both of Cody and Bailey blush but look away. Cody's hands finally dry up and then he looks back at Bailey. He boldly takes her hand rightfully back into his. With his gentle action, Bailey looks back at Cody.

"We still have time to let Zack and Maddie know that they're under the mistletoe."

"Let's do it. I mean there would be no harm if we slightly embarrassed them. After all, we teased and embarrassed each other."

"You're so right, Bailey Bunny."

Bailey let out of soft giggle from the cute pet name Cody used.

"Thank you, Cody Kitten."

Cody kissed Bailey on the forehead as a 'you're welcome' and then pointed in Zack and Maddie's general direction. He made his appearance clear to them.

"Hey, Zack! Hey, Maddie! Do you two know that you're under the mistletoe?"

Zack and Maddie looked over at Cody and Bailey who were suspiciously waving and smiling at them and snickering a little bit as well. Zack and Maddie were confused until Cody pointed out to them what was hanging over their heads. Both blondes looked up and saw the mistletoe still hanging in the same spot as the night before. They looked back at each other and shared an awkward silence. Either Cody or Bailey gabbed something about following tradition. Zack nervously rubbed one of his arms while Maddie was standing in front of him.

"Look, Maddie, we don't have to-"

Maddie interrupted Zack by planting a nice kiss on his left cheek. Zack looked at her very bemused. She simply smiled at him.

"It was nice talking to you Zack."

With those words said, Maddie wove Zack goodbye before heading up to her room to start packing for she would have to leave the next day. Zack had his cheeks filled up with a pink hue. He was somewhat embarrassed but not in a way that he wanted to yell or pummel his brother. Actually, he wanted to thank Cody and Bailey for indirectly getting Maddie to kiss Zack. With the blush gone and enough built-up courage, Zack sauntered over to his brother and friend.

"Why did you guys do that?"

"We'd figure that you wouldn't mind. We appreciated your apology and thought about what to do for you in return and I guess the idea just popped into my head."

"I didn't know what to expect so I just went along with it."

"Thanks you guys."

"No problem" "You're welcome."

"Hey, Bailey, when do you have to leave?"

"I leave by noon."

"Well, that's just thirty minutes from now. Unfortunately, I actually have plans by noon so would it be okay if said goodbye to you now?"

"Sure, Zack."

Zack hugged Bailey while saying goodbye to her. Then he released her from the hug and embraced his brother. Once he was done being all nice and sensitive, he left the two to be by themselves. Cody looked at Bailey expectantly once Zack was gone. She looked back at Cody letting him know that they would have to go back up for her things and come right back down to say goodbye. Cody and bailey silently fulfilled their task as a team and within minutes they were back down in the lobby. It didn't take long for bailey to check-out. Cody escorted Bailey to the outside and gave her a brief goodbye and kiss before seeing her off in a cab. He waved at her as her cab drove away. After a while of just standing at the front of the Tipton, Cody went back inside and got a little teary-eyed. He rid his eyes of tears and kept his chin up. He knew that he would have to say goodbye to Maddie the next day which wouldn't be too much different from Bailey's departure except for the fact that he wouldn't kiss her. Cody just went back up to the suite that he wanted rest as he knew that the rest of the winter break wouldn't be much to talk about after tomorrow. He would simply just let the rest of winter break be as it would be until he could back at Yale with Bailey.

The End


End file.
